A solar power plant in Ukraine's Merefa in the Kharkiv region was destroyed by a missile strike on Saturday (May 28), the solar plant station manager, Volodymyr Ranchkovskyi, said.

Local authorities said there were no casualties from the strike that happened early Saturday (May 28) morning, and power supply had been restored. Reuters could not immediately verify who was responsible for the strike.

CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed several angles of the moment of the explosion in the solar panels, which created a large crater where on Saturday Ranchkovskyi was seen collecting debris.

"There is no military infrastructure here. It's just a solar power plant," Ranchkovskyi said.

Local media has reported shelling over Merefa in the past couple of days.

Ukraine's General Staff also said on Saturday that multiple Russian strikes had hit communities and infrastructure near Kharkiv.

TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the country's war-ridden east for the first time since the Russian advance, on a trip to Kharkiv region, from where Moscow has retreated in recent weeks.   

• Russia is willing to discuss ways to make it possible for Ukraine to resume shipments of grain from Black Sea ports, President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of France and Germany on Saturday.  

• Russia's ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, says nuclear weapons will not be used in conflict with Ukraine, noting it would go against Russian military rules on wars of this scale. Meanwhile Russia's defense ministry successfully test-fired a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile over a distance of about 1,000 kilometers.

• A solar power plant was targeted in a shelling, according to its manager Volodymyr Ranchkovskyi. The plant – in the town of Merefa, on the outskirts of Kharkiv – was producing 2.5 megawatts of energy.

• Russian forces have stepped up their assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, after claiming to have captured the nearby rail hub of Lyman. The attack happened as Kyiv intensified calls for longer-range weapons from the West. 

• Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said. 

• An EU summit on Monday and Tuesday could see divisions between members who want to take a hard line against Russia and those calling for a ceasefire. Italy last week proposed a peace plan that would involve the United Nations. 

• French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Putin to release the 2,500 Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal, the Elysee palace confirmed they are still being detained. 

• Hundreds of Lithuanians clubbed together to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine in its war against Russia, in a show of solidarity with a fellow country formerly under Moscow's rule.

• An estimated 50 homes in the village of Demydiv remain partially submerged months after a dam was destroyed. The area was flooded to stop Russian troops from advancing on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, said regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba.

• Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for Russia to toughen its laws on "foreign agents". He proposed the region prosecute individuals working for the interests of foreign states. 

IN DETAIL

Zelenskyy's arms race

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country is working to boost its weapons supplies, in a bid to outnumber the Russian technologically.

While discussing his hopes for the plans he said a lot depends on the support of "partners".

He said: "Of course, a lot depends on our partners and their readiness to provide Ukraine with everything necessary to protect freedom. I expect good news on this next week."

Zelenskyy's adviser Oleksiy Arestovych also claimed in a statement that the weapons the region "so desperately needs will most likely be delivered soon."

Key will be a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels in mid-June, attended by Reznikov, Arestovych said on social media television.

Russia tests hypersonic missile

Russia successfully test-fired a hypersonic Zircon cruise missile over a distance of about 1,000 kilometers, the defense ministry said.

The missile was fired from the Barents Sea and hit a target in the White Sea, it said. Video released by the ministry showed the missile being fired from a ship and blazing into the sky on a steep trajectory.

President Vladimir Putin has described the Zircon as part of a new generation of unrivalled arms systems. Hypersonic weapons can travel at nine times the speed of sound, and Russia has conducted previous test-launches of the Zircon from warships and submarines in the past year.

Russia's military has suffered heavy losses of men and equipment during its three-month "special operation" in Ukraine, but it has continued to stage high-profile weapons tests to remind the world of its prowess in missile technology.

Last month it test-launched a new nuclear-capable intercontinental missile, the Sarmat, capable of carrying 10 or more warheads and striking the United States.