US Politics | Ukraine news LIVE: Vladimir Putin’s war now a ‘nightmare scenario’ as desperate tyrant ‘losing his grip’ on invasion

VLADIMIR Putin may be trying to use the Zapporzhzhia nuclear plant crisis as leverage to force Ukraine's surrender, an expert says. The Zaporizhzhia power plant has been in the hands of Putin's forces since the early stages of the Ukraine war, with the world staring down the barrel of another radiation nightmare. But nuclear energy expert and former employee at the country's state nuclear regulator Olga Kosharna, told Express.co.uk Putin may use the tense situation at Zapporzhzhia nuclear power plant to force Ukraine's surrender. Ms Kosharna said: ...Basically, what is happening is an attempt to force Ukraine into negotiations or surrender, because they're clearly losing the war. ...With the airfields bombed successfully over the course of several weeks, and just recently, huge damage has been taken...with dozens of units destroyed. ...They are hysterical because they can't lose. And so what they're trying to do is use this nuclear asset to force Ukraine to surrender or negotiate. The whole situation the Russians have arranged is nuclear blackmail. ... 'A ' nuclear threat to force the Western partners to 'pressure ' Ukraine to start negotiations. The main objective is to freeze the situation as it is to claim the status quo.... It comes as Putin's troops have told workers at Europe's biggest nuclear plant to "take holiday" – sparking fears of a nuke disaster. And taking to Twitter, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that a further 300 Russian personnel had been killed taking the total to 45,200. Read our Ukraine-Russia blog below for the latest updates...