Moscow says Kyiv has struck a nuclear power plant as Ukraine marks Independence Day

Russia accused Ukraine on Sunday of launching drone attacks that sparked a fire at a nuclear power plant in its western Kursk region overnight, as Ukraine celebrated 34 years since its independence.

Russian officials said several power and energy facilities were targeted in the overnight strikes. The fire at the nuclear facility was quickly extinguished with no injuries reported, according to the plant’s press service on Telegram. While the attack damaged a transformer, radiation levels remained within normal ranges.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said it was aware of media reports that a transformer at the plants had caught fire “due to military activity,” but hadn’t received independent confirmation. It said its director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said that “every nuclear facility must be protected at all times.”

Ukraine did not immediately comment on the alleged attack.

Firefighters also responded to a blaze at the port of Ust-Luga in Russia’s Leningrad region, home to a major fuel export terminal. The regional governor said approximately 10 Ukrainian drones were shot down, with debris igniting the fire.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 95 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Sunday.

Russia fired 72 drones and decoys, along with a cruise missile, into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 48 drones were shot down or jammed.

The incidents occurred as Ukraine marked Independence Day, commemorating its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered remarks in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, emphasizing the nation’s resolve.

“We are building a Ukraine that will have enough strength and power to live in security and peace,” Zelenskyy said, calling for a “just peace.”

“What our future will be is up to us alone,” he said, in a nod to the U.S.–Russia summit in Alaska earlier in August, which many feared would leave Ukrainian and European interests sidelined.

“And the world knows this. And the world respects this. It respects Ukraine. It perceives Ukraine as an equal,” he said.

U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg was in attendance at Independence Day celebrations in Kyiv, during which Zelenskyy awarded him the Ukrainian Order of Merit, of the 1st degree.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Kyiv on Sunday morning for meetings with Zelenskyy.

“On this special day — Ukraine’s Independence Day — it is especially important for us to feel the support of our friends. And Canada has always stood by our side,” wrote Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff.

In a joint news conference with Zelenskyy, Carney said Canada will invest 2 billion Canadian dollars ($1.5 billion) in new military assistance for Ukraine to boost its army and provide urgently needed weapons.

Zelenskyy said the two leaders were considering the presence of Canadian forces on the ground in Ukraine as part of a reassurance force.

Norway announced significant new military aid Sunday, pledging about 7 billion kroner ($695 million) for air defense systems. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Norway and Germany are jointly funding two Patriot systems, including missiles, with Norway also helping procure air defense radar.

Pope Leo XIV prayed Sunday for peace in Ukraine as he marked the country’s Independence Day with a special appeal during his weekly noon blessing. He said the faithful were joining Ukrainians “asking that the Lord give peace to their martyred country.”

Leo also sent a telegram to Zelenskyy, which the Ukrainian leader posted on X along with similar notes from other world leaders.

In the letter, Leo assured his prayers for all Ukrainians who are suffering, and wrote: “I implore the Lord to move the hearts of people of good will, that the clamor of arms may fall silent and give way to dialogue, opening the path to peace for the good of all.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s troops continued their push in eastern and northern Ukraine, where Russia claimed Saturday that its forces had seized two villages in the Donetsk region. The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Sunday that Ukraine had taken back control of the village of Novomykhailivka, also in the Donetsk region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that 146 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukraine, in exchange for the same number of Ukrainian servicemen. The ministry said the latest exchange also included eight residents of Russia’s Kursk region, which was subject to a surprise Ukrainian incursion in August 2024, who were returned to Russia after being held in Ukraine.

Shortly after the Russian announcement, Zelenskyy said “our people are coming home." He said that those being exchanged included members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and civilians. “Most of them had been in captivity since 2022,” he said.

Zelenskyy did not confirm the number of prisoners involved in the exchange.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A Ukrainian man shouts slogans during a demonstration to mark Ukraine's Independence Day down Liberdade Avenue in Lisbon, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A Ukrainian soldier cries after returning from captivity following a POWs exchange between Russia and Ukraine, in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo, taken from a video and distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, Russian servicemen wave Russian national flags sitting in a bus at an exchange area in Belarus after returning from captivity during a POWs exchange of a group of servicemen between Russia and Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, walks with Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, left, as he arrives in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their speeches, during a ceremony on Independence Day in Sophia Square, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick//The Canadian Press via AP)

People visit the memorial wall of fallen defenders of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, front left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, front right, shake hands as they take part in a ceremony on Independence Day in Sophia Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Independence Monument is pictured as Ukrainian flags blow in the wind in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.

South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.

Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.

On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.

No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.

After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)