International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will need a "special status" and a cooperation agreement between Russia and Ukraine if a peace deal is reached.

Russia has intensified its offensive in eastern and northeastern Ukraine just as Trump’s peace plan faces pushback, launching fresh assaults around Kupiansk and along the Oskil River while stepping up long‑range strikes on major cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv.

From the front-line city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk, to Zaporizhzhia in the south, there is little doubt that Russia is making advances. But, battlefield monitors suggest the picture is not quite so bleak for Ukraine as Trump and Putin suggest.

Russia’s nuclear brinkmanship — a reckless gamble that began with its occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — has escalated into a crisis threatening the entire European continent.

The U.S. plan contains many of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longstanding demands while offering limited security guarantees to Ukraine. It foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia, something Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out, reduces the size of it army and blocks its coveted path to NATO membership.

Russian troops appear to have captured more than 15 villages in southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast since September, exploiting the weather and Ukraine’s low manpower to scale up their offensive, according to the Finnish Black Bird Group open-source intelligence collective.

An explosion was just heard in Zaporizhzhia. Residents of several districts of the city witnessed it. — Ukrinform.