Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at his official residence in Tokyo, Japan July 14, 2022. Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Japan will restart more idled nuclear plants and look at developing next-generation reactors, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday, setting the stage for a major policy shift on nuclear energy a decade after the Fukushima disaster.
The comments from Kishida – who also said the government would look at extending the lifespan of existing reactors – highlight how the Ukraine crisis and soaring energy costs have forced both a change in public opinion and a policy rethink toward nuclear power.
Japan has kept most of its nuclear plants idled in the decade since a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Quake-prone Japan also said it would build no new reactors, so a change in that policy would be a stark turnaround.
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Kishida told reporters he had instructed officials to come up with concrete measures by the year end, including on “gaining the understanding of the public” on sustainable energy and nuclear power.
Government officials met on Wednesday to hammer out a plan for so-called “green transformation” aimed at retooling the world’s third-largest economy to meet environmental goals. Nuclear energy, which was deeply opposed by the public after the Fukushima crisis, is now seen by some in government as a component for such green transformation.
Public opinion has also shifted, as fuel prices have risen and an early and hot summer spurred calls for energy-saving.
“It is the first step towards the normalisation of Japan’s energy policy,” said Jun Arima, a project professor at the University of Tokyo’s graduate school of public policy.
Japan needs nuclear power because its grid is not connected to neighbouring countries, nor is it able to boost output of domestic fossil fuels, he said.
Last month the government said it hoped to restart more nuclear reactors in time to avert any power crunch over the winter.
As of late July, Japan had seven operating reactors, with three others offline due to maintenance. Many others are still going through a relicensing process under stricter safety standards imposed after Fukushima.
Kishida also said the government would look at extending the lifespan of existing reactors. Local media earlier reported this could be done by not including the time reactors remained offline – years in some cases – when calculating their operating time.
Under current regulations, Japan decommissions plants after a predetermined period, which in many cases is 60 years.
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Reporting by Mayuko Sakoda and Yoshifumi Takemoto; additional reporting by Mariko Katsumura, David Dolan and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Tom Hogue, Shri Navaratnam and Nick Macfie
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Heightened fears of attack on Kyiv around independence day
Wednesday marks six months since Russian invasion
Zelenskiy pledges powerful response to any attack
KYIV, Aug 23 (Reuters) – As Ukraine prepared to mark both its independence from Soviet-rule in 1991 and the six months since Russian troops invaded, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged that any Russian attacks in or around the date would provoke a powerful response.
Zelenskiy, who has led his country’s resistance since Russian troops poured over the border on Feb. 24, also said Ukraine would restore its rule over the Crimea region – annexed by Russia in 2014 in a precursor to this year’s invasion.
Despite his defiance, there was concern among Ukrainian and allied Western officials that Russia was preparing to attack the capital Kyiv once again.
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The United States urged its citizens to leave Ukraine, saying it believed Russia would target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days. U.S. citizens should leave Ukraine “now” by their own means if it was safe to do so, the U.S. Embassy said.
On the battlefields away from Kyiv, Russian forces carried out artillery and air strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine, where fighting has taken place near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s military said.
Meanwhile leaders of dozens of countries and international organizations were taking part in the so-called Crimea Platform – most of them by video – in solidarity with Ukraine on the six-month anniversary of the invasion.
Opening the forum, Zelenskiy, dressed in his customary military gear, told delegates: “To overcome terror, it is necessary to gain victory in the fight against Russian aggression.”
“It is necessary to liberate Crimea. This will be the resuscitation of world law and order,” he said.
Italy’s acting Prime Minister Mario Draghi told the summit Rome would continue to support Ukraine. “We are with you in your fight to resist Russia’s invasion, restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, protect your democracy and independence,” he said.
Earlier, Zelenskiy had warned that Moscow might try “something particularly ugly” in the run-up to Wednesday’s Independence Day. Asked at a news conference with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda about the possibility of a Russian missile strike on Kyiv, Zelenskiy said there was a daily threat of attacks although the number of them could increase.
Ukraine’s response would be the same for any city that comes under attack from Russia.
“They will receive a response, a powerful response,” Zelenskiy said. “I want to say that each day…this response will grow, it will get stronger and stronger.”
Fears of intensified Russian attacks followed the killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Russian ultra-nationalist, in a car bombing near Moscow on Saturday. Moscow blamed the killing on Ukrainian agents, a charge Kyiv denies.
Kyiv has only rarely been hit by Russian missiles since Ukraine repelled a ground offensive to seize the capital in March.
The mood in the city was calm on Tuesday, with many people still wandering the streets, but signs of the increased threat could be felt.
Authorities have told Ukrainians to work from home where possible from Tuesday to Thursday, also urging people to take air raid warnings seriously and seek shelter when sirens sound.
The Kyiv city administration banned large public gatherings until Thursday, fearing that a crowd of celebrating residents could become a target for a Russian missile strike.
NUCLEAR POWDER KEG
Six months on from the Russian invasion, which has caused thousands of deaths, made millions of people refugees and destroyed whole cities, the conflict is locked in a stalemate.
Russian forces control a large swathe of the south, including along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov coasts, and chunks of the eastern Donbas region. The prospects for peace look almost non-existent.
Russian shelling hit eastern Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest city – around dawn on Tuesday, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. A house had been hit but no one was hurt, he said.
In the south, Ukraine said Russia fired artillery and mounted air strikes in several towns in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Russian forces captured the nuclear power plant shortly after the start of the invasion.
Artillery and rocket fire near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, on the south bank of the Dnipro River, has led to calls for the area to be demilitarised. The two sides have traded blame over frequent shelling at the plant.
In other action, Ukrainian forces shelled a building housing the local administration headquarters in the centre of separatist-controlled Donetsk city on Tuesday, TASS news agency reported, quoting Russian-installed officials. Three people were killed, it said.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had downed a Ukrainian SU-27 warplane over the Kharkiv region.
Russia sent its troops over the border in what it calls a “special military operation” saying it wanted to demilitarise its neighbour and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of waging an unjustified war of aggression.
The United Nations said on Monday that 5,587 civilians had been killed and 7,890 wounded between Feb. 24 and Aug. 21, mainly from artillery, rocket and missile attacks. Its children’s agency UNICEF said at least 972 children have been killed or injured over six months of war.
Separately, Ukrainian armed forces chief General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi provided what appeared to be the first public Ukrainian military death toll, saying nearly 9,000 soldiers had been killed in action.
Russia has not said how many of its soldiers have been killed. Ukraine’s General Staff have estimated the Russian military death toll at 45,400.
Reuters has been unable to verify military losses.
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Reporting by Ron Popeski and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Stephen Coates and Angus MacSwan; Editing by William Maclean
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Sichuan extends industrial power use curbs until Aug. 25
Chongqing cuts working hours of commercial venues
Shortages could affect Tesla
SHANGHAI, Aug 22 (Reuters) – China’s scorched southwestern regions extended curbs on power consumption on Monday as they deal with dwindling hydropower output and surging household electricity demand during a long drought and heatwave.
State weather forecasters issued a heat “red alert” for the 11th consecutive day on Monday, as extreme weather continues to play havoc with power supplies and damage crops. They also raised the national drought alert to “orange” – the second-highest level.
The drought has already “severely affected” mid-season rice and summer corn in some southern regions, the ministry of agriculture said on Sunday.
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The National Meteorological Center said as many as 62 weather stations, from Sichuan in the southwest to Fujian on the southeastern coast, saw record temperatures on Sunday. The situation could improve starting Wednesday as a cold front moves into China via Xinjiang.
The region of Chongqing, which hit temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) late last week, announced that opening hours at more than 500 malls and other commercial venues would be shortened starting Monday to ease power demand.
Malls on the list contacted by Reuters on Monday confirmed they had received the government notice and would abide by the rules. Two hotels on the list said they were still operating normally but would restrict air conditioner use.
In neighbouring Sichuan province, a major hydropower generator, authorities also extended existing curbs on industrial power consumers until Thursday, financial news service Caixin said on Sunday. Power generation in Sichuan is at just half the normal level after a massive decline in water levels.
Caixin cited battery industry firms as saying that industrial power users in the cities of Yibin and Suining had been told to remain closed until Thursday.
Sichuan – a major power supplier to the rest of the country – has recently put a new coal storage base into operation to make sure its thermal plants can operate without disruption.
However, around 80% of its installed capacity is hydropower, making it especially vulnerable to fluctuations in water supplies.
People walk on a dried-up bed of a reservoir, amid hot temperatures, while many regions from southwest to east of the country along the Yangtze river have been experiencing weeks of record-breaking heatwave in Changxing, Zhejiang province, China, August 20, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
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Several companies confirmed on Monday that they were restricting output because of extended power supply curbs. Pesticide producer Lier Chemical Co Ltd (002258.SZ) confirmed in on Monday that restrictions would continue until Thursday.
JinkoSolar (JKS.N), a major solar power equipment manufacturer, said its Sichuan manufacturing facilities have been halted as a result of power shortages, adding that it was “uncertain” how long the measures would last.
Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) gradually resumed operations at its Sichuan plant in China on Monday using a power generator after suspending operations last week, the company’s spokesperson said.
Several plants in Sichuan and Chongqing, including those of top battery maker CATL (300750.SZ) and the electric vehicle giant BYD (002594.SZ), have only been able to partially operate in recent weeks because of power shortages.
Sources familiar with the matter said CATL’s Yibin plant makes battery cells for Tesla (TSLA.O), and there were concerns that disruptions could eventually affect the U.S. automaker, though production at its Shanghai plant remains unchanged.
Shanghai, criticised on China’s Twitter-like Weibo for its use of electricity generated in Sichuan, imposed its own consumption restrictions on Monday, turning off decorative lighting on the riverside Bund area and parts of the financial centre of Lujiazui for two days.
Firms will be encouraged to “stagger” power consumption to reduce peak loads, and some construction projects will be suspended, the official Shanghai Daily said.
Important agricultural regions have been warning of the impact on crops, with Henan province saying more than a million hectares of land have been affected by drought so far.
About 2.2 million hectares across the Yangtze basin have been affected, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.
Poyang Lake, located in one of the Yangtze river’s flood plains and described as China’s “kidney” because of the role it plays in regulating water supplies, is now 67% smaller than the average over the last 10 years, state broadcaster CCTV said.
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Reporting by David Stanway and Zhang Yan in Shanghai, Martin Quin Pollard in Beijing; Additional reporting by the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill, Gerry Doyle and Susan Fenton
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Zelenskiy warns Moscow could try “something particularly ugly”
Ukraine independence day also marks six months since invasion
Two civilians killed in Donetsk region over past 24 hours
Aug 22 (Reuters) – Russian forces pressed on with their offensive across several Ukrainian regions on Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of the potential for more serious attacks ahead of Ukraine’s 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule.
Artillery shells rained down on Nikopol, a city near Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, while missiles struck near the Black Sea port of Odesa over the weekend.
Zelenskiy has called for vigilance, saying Moscow could try “something particularly ugly” ahead of Wednesday, which marks Ukraine’s Independence Day and also half a year since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
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Zelenskiy said he had discussed “all the threats” with French President Emmanuel Macron and word had also been sent to other leaders including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“All of Ukraine’s partners have been informed about what the terrorist state can prepare for this week,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, referring to Russia.
He also said if Russia went ahead with plans to try captured Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol, then it would have violated international rules and cut itself off from negotiations.
“If this despicable show trial were to go ahead … this would be the line beyond which negotiations are no longer possible,” he said. “There will be no more conversations. Our state has said everything.”
The Financial Times, in an article published Sunday, quoted Gennady Gatilov, Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, as saying Erdogan had tried to facilitate dialogue.
But he dismissed speculation about talks between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying there “was not any practical platform for having this meeting”, the report said.
In Russia, authorities are investigating a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow that killed the daughter of Alexander Dugin, an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who advocates Russia absorbing Ukraine. read more
While investigators said they were considering “all versions” when it came to establishing who was responsible, the Russian Foreign Ministry speculated there could be a link to Ukraine, something a Zelenskiy adviser dismissed.
“Ukraine, of course, had nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, like the Russian Federation, and moreover we are not a terrorist state,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Ukrainian TV.
MORE RUSSIAN STRIKES
As Ukraine prepared to mark its Independence Day embroiled in a war that has flattened towns and cities, killed thousands and forced millions to flee, officials reported more Russian strikes on targets in the east and south of the country.
In the eastern Bakhmut region, Russian forces inflicted damage from artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems in the areas of Soledar, Zaytseve and Bilogorivka settlements, Ukraine’s General Staff said in its daily update on Monday.
They continued to focus their efforts on establishing full control over the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, maintaining the captured areas of Kherson and parts of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions, the General Staff added.
Of particular concern is the shelling of Nikopol.
As a result of overnight rocket attacks on Nikopol, Krivyi Rih and Synelnykovsky districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region, four people were injured, regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram on Monday.
Over the past 24 hours, two civilians were killed in the Donetsk region in Ukraine’s east, the regional administration said.
Russia denies targeting civilians.
The fighting near Zaporizhzhia and a missile strike on the southern town of Voznesensk, not far from Ukraine’s second-largest atomic plant, have spurred fears of a nuclear accident.
On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Macron held a phone call stressing the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear installations, while underlining their “steadfast commitment” to Ukraine. read more
Moscow says it is engaged in a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour. Ukraine and its allies say Moscow has launched an unprovoked war of aggression.
Russia said on Sunday that its Kalibr missiles had destroyed an ammunition depot containing missiles for U.S.-made HIMARS rockets in Ukraine’s southeastern Odesa region, home to ports critical to a U.N.-brokered plan to help Ukrainian agricultural exports reach world markets again.
Kyiv said a granary had been hit. read more
Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield reports.
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Reporting by Ron Popeski and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Himani Sarkar; Editing by Stephen Coates
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German Economy and Climate Action Minister Robert Habeck speaks during a news conference on the future use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), in Berlin, Germany August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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Economy minister says nuclear plants save minimal gas
May have to keep plant running in Bavaria for network stability
Scholz says nuclear plant stress test results due within weeks
BERLIN, Aug 21 (Reuters) – German Economy Minister Robert Habeck ruled out on Sunday extending the lifespan of the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants in order to save gas, saying it would save at most 2 percent of gas use.
These savings were not sufficient to be worth reopening the debate about the exit from nuclear energy given the consensus on the topic, he said during a discussion with citizens at the government’s open-door day.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated legislation to halt the use of nuclear power by the end of this year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 with a majority of voters in favour. But attitudes are shifting amid fears of an energy crisis this winter following a decline in Russian gas deliveries – with the three-way coalition itself divided on the matter. read more
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“It is the wrong decision given the little we would save,” said Habeck, a member of the Greens party, which has it roots in the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s and 80s.
On the other side of the debate, Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats reiterated his stance that it would be better to extend the lifespans of nuclear plants for a limited time than to bring coal plants back online.
“We shouldn’t be too picky, but reserve all possibilities,” he said, adding that he would be open to an extension of “several years” in the current circumstances.
Separately to the debate over gas savings measures, Habeck said he was open to extending the lifespan of one nuclear power plant in Bavaria if a stress test showed this was necessary to ensure the stability and supply of the electricity network in winter, he said.
Habeck accused the southern state and manufacturing hub, which depends on gas-fired power plants and has few coal-fired plants, of possibly contributing to problems by failing build up wind power production and improve the network.
The fact that Germany is having to supply France with electricity due to a drop in nuclear output is another factor at play.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the result of the stress test should come towards the end of the month, or the beginning of next month – and only then would a decision be made.
The situation in France, where nearly half its reactors are offline because of corrosion problems and maintenance, showed how problematic the technology was though, he said.
New plants were so expensive that they pushed up electricity prices unlike renewable energies, he said.
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Reporting by Markus Wacket and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Sarah Marsh; editing by David Evans
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Russia could do something ‘particularly ugly’, Ukraine warns
Ukraine independence day also marks six months since Russia’s invasion
Fresh shelling near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Daughter of Russian nationalist killed by car bomb
Aug 21 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged vigilance ahead of Wednesday’s celebrations of 31 years of Ukraine’s independence from Soviet rule, as shells rained down near Europe’s biggest nuclear plant and Russian forces struck in the south and east.
Ukrainians must not allow Moscow to “spread despondency and fear” ahead of the Aug. 24 events, which also mark six months since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Saturday.
“We must all be aware that this week Russia could try to do something particularly ugly, something particularly vicious,” Zelenskiy said.
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In Russia, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who advocates Russia absorbing Ukraine was killed in a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow on Saturday evening, Russian state investigators said on Sunday.
They said Darya Dugina, daughter of prominent ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed after a suspected explosive device detonated on the Toyota Land Cruiser she was travelling in, and they were considering “all versions” when it came to working out who was responsible. read more
The nightly curfew in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, regularly hit by Russian shelling, will be extended for the entire day on Wednesday, regional Governor Oleh Synehub told residents on the Telegram messaging app.
As the war that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee heads for its half-year mark, Ukrainian military and local officials reported more Russian strikes overnight on targets in the east and south of the country.
Ukraine’s general staff said on Facebook early on Sunday that over the past 24 hours Russian forces had conducted several attempted assaults in Donbas. The eastern border region controlled in part by pro-Moscow separatists has been a prime target of Russia’s campaign in the past months.
In the south, Russian forces conducted a successful assault on a village of Blahodatne at the border between Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. The city of Mykolaiv was hit with multiple S-300 missiles early on Sunday, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.
The area on the Black Sea coast has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the past weeks.
To the northeast, the city of Nikopol, which lies across the Dnipro river from Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, was shelled on five different occasions overnight, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. He said 25 artillery shells hit the city, causing a fire at an industrial premises and cutting power to 3,000 residents.
NUCLEAR FEARS
The fighting near the Russian-controlled plant and Saturday’s missile strike at the southern Ukrainian town of Voznesensk, not far from the country’s second-largest nuclear plant, revived fears of a nuclear accident.
The attack on Voznesensk was “another act of Russian nuclear terrorism”, state-run Energoatom, which manages Ukraine’s four nuclear energy generators, said in a statement.
Russia did not immediately respond to the accusation. Reuters could not verify the situation in Voznesensk. There were no reports of damage to the power plant.
As Moscow and Ukraine continue to trade accusations of shelling around the Zaporizhzhia complex, the United Nations has called for a demilitarized zone around the plant and talks continued about a visit of its nuclear agency to the area.
Zelenskiy in his speech also referred obliquely to a recent series of explosions in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, but analysts have said at least some have been made possible by new equipment used by its forces.
“You can literally feel Crimea in the air this year, that the occupation there is only temporary and that Ukraine is coming back,” Zelenskiy said.
In the latest incident, Crimea’s Russian-appointed governor, who is not recognised by the West, said a drone attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet was thwarted on Saturday morning.
“It was downed right over the fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and burned up. The attack failed,” Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram.
Razvozhayev said the region’s anti-aircraft system had again been in operation and asked residents to stop filming and disseminating pictures of how it was working.
Ukrainian media reported explosions in nearby towns, among them the resorts of Yevpatoriya, Olenivka and Zaozyornoye.
Further west, five Kalibr missiles were fired from the Black Sea at the Odesa region overnight, according to the regional administration, citing the she southern military command. Two were shot down by Ukrainian air defences while three hit grain storage, but there were no casualties.
Odesa and other ports in the region have been at the centre of an U.N.-brokered deal to allow Ukrainian grain exports, blocked by the war, to reach world markets again. On Sunday, Turkey’s defence ministry reported four more food-laden ships left Ukrainian ports, bringing the total to 31.
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Reporting by Ron Popeski and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Clarence Fernandez and Tomasz Janowski; Editing by William Mallard and Nick Macfie
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Zelenskiy seeks new sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector
Ukraine and Russia trade blame on shelling near plant
IAEA has warned of disaster at the plant unless fighting stops
KYIV, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Ukraine called for new sanctions on Russia and highlighted the risks and consequences of a catastrophe at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, where fresh shelling nearby has reignited a blame game between both sides.
Ukrainian and Russian-installed officials have traded accusations over who is responsible for attacks close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Russian soldiers that if they attack the site in the now Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar, or use it as a base to shoot from, then they will become a “special target”.
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“If through Russia’s actions a catastrophe occurs the consequences could hit those who for the moment are silent,” he said in a late Monday-night address, calling for new sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector.
“If now the world does not show strength and decisiveness to defend one nuclear power station, it will mean that the world has lost.”
The world nuclear watchdog has warned of a disaster if the fighting does not stop.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in Enerhodar, said on Monday about 25 heavy artillery strikes from U.S.-made M777 howitzers had hit near the nuclear plant and residential areas during a two-hour period.
Russia’s Interfax news agency, quoting the press service of Enerhodar’s Russian-appointed administration, said Ukrainian forces had opened fire, with blasts near the power plant.
But according to the head of the administration of the Nikopol district, which lies across the river from Enerhodar and remains under Ukrainian control, it was Russian forces that had shelled the city to try to make it appear that Ukraine was attacking it.
“The Russians think they can force the world to comply with their conditions by shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP (nuclear power plant),” Andriy Yermak, chief of the Ukrainian presidential staff, wrote on Twitter.
Russian forces continued to shell towns and cities – Velika Kostryumka in the south and Marhanets – opposite the Zaporizhhia nuclear power plant, according to a report from the south district of the Ukrainian armed forces on Facebook.
Ukrainian forces killed 23 Russian soldiers and destroyed two reinforced positions, it added.
Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
The United Nations says it has the logistics and security capacity to support a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if both Russia and Ukraine agree. read more
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu held a phone call with Guterres to discuss conditions for the safe functioning of the plant, the ministry said on Monday.
“In close cooperation with the agency and its leadership, we will do everything necessary for the IAEA specialists to be at the station and give a truthful assessment of the destructive actions of the Ukrainian side,” Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
But Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy head of the foreign ministry’s nuclear proliferation and arms control department, was later quoted as saying it would be too dangerous for any IAEA mission to travel through the capital Kyiv to inspect the plant. read more
“Imagine what it means to pass through Kyiv – it means they get to the nuclear plant through the front line,” RIA news agency quoted Vishnevetsky.
Ukraine, where parliament on Monday extended martial law for a further three months, has said for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to recapture Zaporizhzhia and neighbouring Kherson province, the largest part of the territory Russia seized after its Feb. 24 invasion and still holds.
DEATH PENALTY
The conflict, which has caused millions to flee and killed thousands, has put major strain on relations between Moscow and the West.
A Russian-backed separatist court in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk charged five foreign nationals it said were captured fighting with Ukrainian forces with being mercenaries on Monday, Russian media reported. Three of the men could face the death penalty. read more
Russia late on Monday said British reconnaissance aircraft violated its air border at a peninsula east of Finland between the Barents Sea and the White Sea, and a fighter jet forced the British aircraft out of Russian airspace.
Britain’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” to demilitarise its neighbour and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and Western backers accuse Moscow of waging an imperial-style war of conquest.
Russian forces were engaged in shelling to advance on a wide variety of frontline positions in the east and south, the Ukrainian military reported on Monday evening.
Even as the biggest attack on a European state since 1945 ground on, there was progress on a grain deal to ease a global food crisis created by the conflict, the most significant diplomatic breakthrough achieved since the war began.
The Joint Coordination Centre, set up by the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, said it had approved the departure of the Brave Commander, the first humanitarian food aid cargo bound for Africa from Ukraine since the invasion. It is set to leave on Tuesday.
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Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Costas Pitas and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien, Stephen Coates & Simon Cameron-Moore
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Russians threatening Zaporizhzhia are “special targets”
G7 nations call on Moscow to withdraw troops from plant
Fear of nuclear catastrophe unless fighting stops
Russia warns it may cut bilateral ties with United States
More grain ships depart Ukraine
KYIV, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Ukraine is targeting Russian soldiers who shoot at Europe’s largest nuclear power station or use it as a base to shoot from, as G7 nations, fearing a nuclear catastrophe, called on Moscow to withdraw its forces from the plant.
Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over multiple incidents of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia facility in southern Ukraine. Russian troops captured the station early in the war.
“Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an evening address on Saturday.
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Zelenskiy, who did not give any details, repeated claims that Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail.
The plant dominates the south bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro river. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under intense bombardment from the Russian-held side. read more
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak accused Russia of “hitting the part of the nuclear power plant where the energy that powers the south of Ukraine is generated.”
“The goal is to disconnect us from the (plant) and blame the Ukrainian army for this,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is seeking to inspect the plant, has warned of a nuclear disaster unless fighting stops. Nuclear experts fear fighting might damage the plant’s spent fuel pools or the reactors.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has called for the establishment of a demilitarised zone around the Zaporizhzhia facility, which is still being run by Ukrainian technicians.
Kyiv has said for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to recapture Zaporizhzhia and neighbouring Kherson provinces, the largest part of the territory Russia seized after its Feb. 24 invasion and still in Russian hands.
Russian and Ukrainian forces earlier fought for control of Chornobyl, the still-radioactive site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, also raising fears of a disaster.
RUSSIA STRENGTEHEN SOUTHERN FORCES
Russia’s priority over the past week has likely been to reorient units to strengthen its campaign in southern Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Sunday.
Russian-backed forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the eastern region of Donbas continued assaults to the north of Donetsk city, the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on Twitter.
Particularly heavy fighting has focussed on the village of Pisky, near the Donetsk airport, it said. Ukraine’s military command said on Saturday “fierce fighting” continued in Pisky, an eastern village over which Russia had earlier claimed full control. read more
Ukrainian servicemen prepare a D-30 howitzer for fire near a frontline in Mykolaiv region, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine August 13, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
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The British military said the Russian assault likely aims to secure the M04 highway, the main approach to Donetsk from the west.
UKRAINE GRAIN SHIPS
Two more ships carrying grain left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Saturday, Turkey’s defence ministry said, bringing to 16 the number of vessels to depart under a U.N.- and Turkey-brokered deal in late July aimed partly at easing a global food crisis.
Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said on Saturday that 16 ships carrying 450,000 tonnes of agricultural products had departed from Ukrainian sea ports since early August under the deal, which ensured safe passage for vessels.
The U.N.-chartered ship MV Brave Commander will depart Ukraine for Africa in coming days after it finishes loading more than 23,0000 tons of wheat in the port of Pivdennyi, a U.N. official said. read more
The ship, bund for Ethiopia, will be the first humanitarian food aid cargo to Africa since the start of the war, amid fears the loss of Ukrainian grain supplies could lead to outbreaks of famine.
Zelenskiy said that in less than two weeks, Ukraine had managed to export the same amount of grain from three ports as it had done by road for all of July.
Ukraine hopes to increase its maritime exports to over 3 million tonnes of grain and other farm products per month in near future.
Ukraine and Russia are major grains exporters. The blockage of Ukrainian ports has trapped tens of millions of grain in the country, raising fears of severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world. read more
DIPLOMATIC RIFT DEEPENS
Russia’s invasion, which it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its smaller neighbour, has pushed Moscow-Washington relations to a low point, with Russia warning it may sever ties.
The United States has led Ukraine’s Western allies in supplying it with weapons to defend itself and punitive sanctions against Moscow.
A senior Russian official on Friday said Moscow had told Washington that if the U.S. Senate passed a law singling out Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, diplomatic ties would be badly damaged and could even be broken off.
On Saturday a senior Russian foreign ministry official warned that any seizure of Russian assets by the United States would completely destroy bilateral relations, TASS reported.
Alexander Darchiev, head of the ministry’s North American Department, was quoted as saying U.S. influence on Ukraine had increased to the degree that “Americans are increasingly becoming more and more a direct party in the conflict”.
The United States and Europe, wary of being dragged directly into the war, have refused Ukraine’s request to establish a no-fly zone to help it protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes.
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Reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv and Reuters bureaux; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by William Mallard
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
KYIV, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Ukraine is targeting Russian soldiers who shoot at an occupied nuclear plant in the south of the country or use it as a base to shoot from, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday.
Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over multiple recent incidents of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Russian troops captured the station early in the war.
“Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” Zelenskiy said in an evening address.
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Zelenskiy, who did not give any details, repeated accusations that Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail.
The G7 group of nations have called on Moscow to withdraw its forces from the power station.
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency earlier warned of fresh Russian “provocations” around the plant while the exiled mayor of the town where the plant is located said it had come under fresh Russian shelling.
But local Russian-installed official Vladimir Rogov wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian forces were shelling the plant.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak accused Russia of “hitting the part of the nuclear power plant where the energy that powers the south of Ukraine is generated.”
“The goal is to disconnect us from the (plant) and blame the Ukrainian army for this,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
The defence intelligence agency said Russian troops had parking a Pion self-propelled howitzer outside the nearby town and put a Ukrainian flag on it.
The agency also said that Thursday’s strikes on the territory of the plant, which Ukraine says damaged water-pumping infrastructure and a fire station, had been conducted from the Russian-controlled village of Vodiane, about seven kilometres (4.35 miles) east of the plant.
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Reporting by Max Hunder and David Ljunggren; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Sandra Maler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Satellite images show damage at Russian air base in Crimea
KYIV/NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) – Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant as the U.N. chief proposed a demilitarised zone at the site amid fears of a catastrophe.
Ukraine’s Energoatom agency said the Zaporizhzhia complex was struck five times on Thursday, including near where radioactive materials are stored. Russian-appointed officials said Ukraine shelled the plant twice, disrupting a shift changeover, Russia’s TASS news agency said.
The U.N. Security Council met on Thursday to discuss the situation. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to halt all fighting near the plant.
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“The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area,” Guterres said in a statement.
Russia seized Zaporizhzhia in March after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24. The plant, near the front line in the fighting, is held by Russian troops and operated by Ukrainian workers.
At the Security Council meeting, the United States backed the call for a demilitarised zone and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site. read more
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the world was being pushed “to the brink of nuclear catastrophe, comparable in scale with Chornobyl.” He said IAEA officials could visit the site as soon as this month.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports from either side about circumstances at the plant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded Russia return the plant to Ukraine’s control.
“Only a full withdrawal of the Russians … and the restoration of full Ukrainian control of the situation around the station can guarantee a resumption of nuclear security for all of Europe,” he said in a video address.
France echoed Zelenskiy’s demand and said Russia’s occupation of the site endangered the world.
“The presence and actions of the Russian armed forces near the plant significantly increase the risk of an accident with potentially devastating consequences,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
Kyiv and Moscow have previously blamed each other for attacks on the site. Ukraine has also accused Russia of firing rockets at Ukrainian towns from around the captured nuclear power plant in the knowledge it would be risky for Ukraine to return fire.
RUSSIAN BASE IN CRIMEA
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko//File Photo
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Separately, satellite pictures released on Thursday showed devastation at an air base in Russian-annexed Crimea. It suggested Ukraine may have new long-range strike capability with potential to change the course of the war, Western military experts said.
Images from independent satellite firm Planet Labs showed three near-identical craters where buildings at Russia’s Saki air base had been struck with apparent precision. The base, on the southwest coast of Crimea, suffered extensive fire damage with at least eight destroyed warplanes clearly visible.
Russia has denied aircraft were damaged and said explosions at the base on Tuesday were accidental. Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attack.
Referring to the damage, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters in a message: “Officially, we are not confirming or denying anything … bearing in mind that there were several epicentres of explosions at exactly the same time.”
Zelenskiy told officials to stop talking to reporters about Kyiv’s military tactics against Russia, saying such remarks were “frankly irresponsible”. The New York Times and Washington Post newspapers cited unidentified officials as saying Ukrainian forces were responsible for the Crimea attack. read more
Russia, which seized and annexed Crimea in 2014, uses the peninsula as the base for its Black Sea fleet and as the main supply route for its invasion forces occupying southern Ukraine, where Kyiv is planning a counter-offensive in coming weeks.
COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
The Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian officials were framing the Crimea strike as the start of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the south, suggesting intense fighting in August and September that could decide the outcome of the next phase of the war.
Exactly how the attack was carried out remains a mystery but the near-identical impact craters and simultaneous explosions appear to indicate it was hit by a volley of weapons capable of evading Russian defences.
The base is well beyond the range of advanced rockets that Western countries acknowledge sending to Ukraine so far, though within range of more powerful versions Kyiv has sought. Ukraine also has anti-ship missiles which could theoretically be used to hit targets on land.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said that Russian officials trained in Iran in recent weeks as part of an agreement on the transfer of drones between the two countries. read more
U.S. officials said last month that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones, including some that are weapons capable, raising concerns that Tehran was now supporting Russia in its war in Ukraine. read more
Russia says its “special military operation” is going to plan, to protect Russian speakers and separatists in the south and east. Ukraine and its Western allies say Moscow aims to solidify its grip on as much territory as possible.
Since the war started, tens of thousands of people have died, millions have fled and cities have been destroyed.
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Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Stephen Coates
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.