Intense fighting in Ukraine as last nuclear reactor shut down amid flooding

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits an exhibition of destroyed vehicles in Kyiv (Pool via AP)

Ukraine’s military has reported intense fighting with Russian forces, while the country’s nuclear energy agency said it had placed the last operating reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant into “cold shutdown”.

The move at the Zaporizhzhia plant in south-eastern Ukraine has been taken a safety precaution amid catastrophic flooding following the collapse of the nearby Kakhovka dam, as Russia’s invasion drags on into its 16th month.