Ukraine accuses Russia of "nuclear terror" over power plant fire on day 9 of Vladimir Putin's invasion

The war in Ukraine took a perilous turn on Friday as Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces were accused of shelling Europe's largest nuclear power plant before taking control of the facility. Ukraine's nuclear energy agency said a fire sparked by Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, about 400 miles southeast of Kyiv, was extinguished and the plant was secure, with no radiation leaks detected. Russia blamed Ukraine for the fire, calling it a "monstrous provocation."

But Putin's brutal invasion entered its ninth day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing him of "nuclear terror," saying no country had ever deliberately "shot at nuclear blocks except for Russia."

In a video address broadcast Thursday night, Putin claimed his "special military operation" to rid Ukraine of what he labels a "neo-Nazi" regime was going according to plan. But with his ground forces making slow progress toward the capital this week and pressure from unprecedented international sanctions mounting fast, Russia's military has relied increasingly on heavy artillery in a bid to pummel Ukrainians into submission. They're putting up a fierce resistance.