LIVE UPDATES: Over 2,000 Ukrainian Troops Taken to Hospitals After Failed Offensive

He said that Ukrainian troops have attempted an attack near Snihurivka as well. However, he said, this attack was a diversion with the main attack occurring "a little to the north."

The UN Security Council will hold a ministerial meeting on Ukraine on in the morning on September 22, the French Ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere said on Thursday.

"I will conclude with the crisis on Ukraine on Thursday the 22nd of September in the morning, the French Minister of Europe and foreign affairs will preside over a ministerial meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine with a particular focus that will be placed on impunity and justice," Riviere said during a press briefing.

The ambassador explained that the meeting will touch upon all of the parameters of the Ukraine crisis.

France is presiding with the UN Security Council during the month of September and has signaled being interested in discussing the situation in Ukraine. Upon Russia’s request, the UN Security Council will also hold a meeting on September 6, focusing on the situation in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The press conference was called to announce that Germany had chartered a fifth LNG ship to shore up gas supplies during the cold season as energy prices continue to soar.

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen noted that Ukraine is still in a great need for assistance.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) on Thursday, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

On Monday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the mission will arrive at the ZNPP this week.

Earlier in the day, 60 Ukrainian paratroopers attempted to seize the ZNPP, according to local authorities. The majority of Ukrainian soldiers were neutralized, while 12 remain blocked.

Five vessels with grain left the ports of Ukraine on Thursday morning in compliance with the Istanbul grain export deal, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

"In the early hours of today, five more ships loaded with grain left Ukraine. Shipments are being carried out in accordance with the plan, under control of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC)," the ministry wrote on Twitter.

On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an UN-brokered initiative to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizers from Black Sea ports. Three key Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhnoe — were unblocked to resume the exports. A joint coordination center was set up to monitor the implementation of the initiative, including ensuring that cargo ships do not carry unauthorized goods or personnel.

On August 31, the JCC said that more than 1,5 million tonnes of grain and other food products had already left Ukraine.

Moscow is afraid of provocations from the Ukrainian side during the visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation to the the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"We certainly fear provocations from the Ukrainian side, given that completely barbaric provocative shelling does not stop. We see this. Other attempts are being made to destabilize the situation. But, as before, we are waiting for this mission and are ready to cooperate, and we are interested in this mission's arrival at the plant," Peskov told reporters.