Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s south, shelling in east kill at least 6 people The Associated Press
Ukrainian counteroffensive: How well prepared is the Russian defense? | DW News DW News
Suspected drone, sabotage strike hits oil refinery 80 miles from Putin’s billion-dollar compound New York Post
Russia launches missile attack on Ukraine killing at least 11 people CNN
Hard Numbers: Russia’s deadly hit in central Ukraine, pandemic money vanishes, AI comes to Jesus, DRC refugee camp attacked, Russian birds on “strike” GZERO Media
The Russian-held city of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has come under attack early this morning, Ukrainian officials have said. “Since five o’clock in the morning, constant mortar attacks on the city have not stopped,” the Ukrainian operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Energoatom, said in an update on its official Telegram channel.
Energodar city mayor, Dmytro Orlov, said “several civilian objects were hit” and confirmed there were victims from the attack in a separate post to his Telegram channel. Orlov published a series of images purportedly showing damage to apartment buildings, homes and shops. Thick black smoke can be seen rising in front of one large apartment block while shopfront windows appear shattered. Another photo shows two helicopters in the sky.
Today’s UN nuclear watchdog mission to inspect the Zaporizhzhia plant may be in jeopardy as Russia shells the pre-agreed route to the site, Ukrainian officials say.
Russian forces are shelling the pre-agreed routeto the Zaporizhzhia plant, the regional state administrative head of the Zaporizhzhia region has said. Just before 8.30am on Thursday, Oleksandr Starukh posted an update to his Telegram channel, saying: “The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission from Zaporizhzhia to the ZNPP. The UN advance team cannot continue the movement due to security reasons.”
Uncertainty hangs over the planned inspectors’ visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. “If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it’s going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to take a few days,” said the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi. On Wednesday the Russian-occupying authorities said the team would be given access for one day.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has not stalled or failed, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said. “The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed,” Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video messaged posted to Telegram early on Thursday morning. “It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defence systems, fuel and ammunition depots.” Arestovych cautioned Ukrainians to be patient, adding “there will be no quick wins”.
Ukraine’s armed forces struck strategic bridges in the southern Kherson region to isolate Russian troops located on the right bank of the Dnieper, Arestovych added. Ukraine’s defence ministry said the Kakhovsky and Daryiv bridges, used by Russia to transport equipment and ammunition to the region, were “disabled” in an update posted to Telegram early on Thursday.
The Russian military has “severe manpower shortages” and is seeking to recruit contract service members and may even draw in convicted criminals, a US official has said, citing US intelligence. The official said this may include “compelling wounded soldiers to re-enter combat, acquiring personnel from private security companies, and paying bonuses to conscripts”.
Russia has stopped the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe, citing the need to carry out repairs. The German government rejects the claim, calling it a “pretence”. It said Nord Stream was “fully operational” and that there were no technical issues. The halt on the Baltic Sea pipeline at 5am on Wednesday would last for three days, said Gazprom, the Russian state energy company.
The EU has agreed to suspend a visa travel deal with Moscow.The bloc aims to curb the number of Russian nationals entering for holidays and shopping, but is stopping short of a full tourist visa ban. Meeting in Prague, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers promised to suspend the 2007 visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it relatively easy to obtain travel documents.
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Today’s UN nuclear watchdog mission to inspect the Zaporizhzhia plant may be in jeopardy as Russia shells the pre-agreed route to the site, Ukrainian officials say.
Earlier this morning we reported that the Russian-held city of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, came under attack, according to Ukrainian officials in the region.
The regional state administrative head of the Zaporizhzhia region is now saying Russian forces are shelling the pre-agreed route officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be taking to access the nuclear plant.
The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission from Zaporizhzhia to the ZNPP. The UN advance team cannot continue the movement due to security reasons.
n
Ukraine continues to make efforts to organise safe access of the international IAEA mission to the ZNPP. We demand that the Russian Federation stop the provocations and grant the IAEA unhindered access to the Ukrainian nuclear facility.”
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The Russian-held city of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has come under attack early this morning, Ukrainian officials say.
Energodar city mayor, Dmytro Orlov, said “several civilian objects were hit” and confirmed there were victims from the attack in a separate post to his Telegram channel.
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Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has not stalled or failed, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said.
The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed. It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defence systems, fuel and ammunition depots.
n
… There will be no quick wins. Initially, a strategy was taken to systematically grind Putin’s army.
It is long, so there is a lot of work to be done.
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Ukraine’s armed forces struck strategic bridges in the southern Kherson region to isolate Russian troops located on the right bank of the Dnieper, Arestovych added.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said the Kakhovsky and Daryiv bridges, used by Russia to transport equipment and ammunition to the region, were “disabled” in an update posted to Telegram early on Thursday.
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Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to inspect the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant today after arriving in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia city on Wednesday.
If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it’s going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to take a few days.”
On Wednesday the Russian-occupying authorities said the team would be given access for one day.
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Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to inspect the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant today after arriving in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia city on Wednesday. The technical mission aims to prevent a nuclear accident.
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has said Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim the souther region of Kherson has not stalled or failed.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has not stalled or failed, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said. “The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed,” Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video messaged posted to Telegram early on Thursday morning. “It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defence systems, fuel and ammunition depots.” Arestovych cautioned Ukrainians to be patient, adding “there will be no quick wins”.
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Ukraine’s armed forces struck strategic bridges in the southern Kherson region to isolate Russian troops located on the right bank of the Dnieper, Arestovych added. Ukraine’s defence ministry said the Kakhovsky and Daryiv bridges, used by Russia to transport equipment and ammunition to the region, were “disabled” in an update posted to Telegram early on Thursday.
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Uncertainty hangs over the planned inspectors’ visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. “If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it’s going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to take a few days,” said the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi. On Wednesday the Russian-occupying authorities said the team would be given access for one day.
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The Russian military has “severe manpower shortages” and is seeking to recruit contract service members and may even draw in convicted criminals, a US official has said, citing US intelligence. The official said this may include “compelling wounded soldiers to re-enter combat, acquiring personnel from private security companies, and paying bonuses to conscripts”.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the Venice film festival,describing Russia’s war on Ukraine as “a primitive plot in three acts for the world to make three dramatic mistakes: to get used to the war, to put up with the war, to forget about the war”. Zelenskiy told the audience “not to remain silent” and “not to remain neutral”.
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Russia has stopped the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe, citing the need to carry out repairs. The German government rejects the claim, calling it a “pretence”. It said Nord Stream was “fully operational” and that there were no technical issues. The halt on the Baltic Sea pipeline at 5am on Wednesday would last for three days, said Gazprom, the Russian state energy company.
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Estonia aims to stop most Russians from entering within weeks, its foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, has said. “It takes some time, but I think timing is also critical, looking at these vast numbers of Russian citizens entering.”
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The EU has agreed to suspend a visa travel deal with Moscow.The bloc aims to curb the number of Russian nationals entering for holidays and shopping, but is stopping short of a full tourist visa ban. Meeting in Prague, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers promised to suspend the 2007 visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it relatively easy to obtain travel documents.
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Zelenskiy welcomed the EU visa measure. “I think it is humiliating for Europe when it is considered as just one big boutique or restaurant,” he said. “When the citizens of the state that wants to destroy European values use Europe for their entertainment or shopping, for the vacation of their mistresses while they themselves work for the war or to simply silently wait out the immoral fall of Russia.”
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The US obtained a warrant to seize a $45m airplane owned by Russian energy firm Lukoil, the US justice department said, though the aircraft is currently believed to be in Russia. The aircraft reportedly flew into and out of Russia in violation of US department of commerce sanctions.
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G7 finance ministers will discuss the Biden administration’s proposed price cap on Russian oil when they meet on Friday, the White House said. “This is the most effective way, we believe, to hit hard at Putin’s revenue and doing so will result in not only a drop in Putin’s oil revenue, but also global energy prices as well,” said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
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BST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1662005671000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”05.14 BST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1662005675000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”05.14 BST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”05.14″,”title”:”Summary and welcome”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 1 Sep 2022 07.37 BST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Thu 1 Sep 2022 05.14 BST”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”format”:{“display”:0,”theme”:0,”design”:10},”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”}”>
Key events
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi has said that the agency would consider establishing a continued presence at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“There has been increased military activity including this morning, until very recently, a few minutes ago … but weighing the pros and cons and having come so far, we are not stopping,” Reuters report he told journalists before setting out for the nuclear power plant.
Russia’s ministry of defence has issued a statement in which it describes what it says is the latest situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (ZNPP) this morning.
Without presenting any evidence, the statement reads:
Today, at about 6am Moscow time, Ukrainian troops landed on the coast of the Kakhovka Reservoir, 3 km northeast of the ZNPP plant in two sabotage groups of up to 60 people in seven boats and attempted to seize the power plant. Measures have been taken to destroy the enemy, including with the use of army aviation.
In addition, from 8am Moscow time, the armed forces of Ukraine have been shelling the meeting point of the IAEA mission in the area of the settlement of Vasylivka and the ZNPP. Four shells exploded at a distance of 400m from the first power unit.
The provocation of the Kyiv regime is aimed at disrupting the arrival of the IAEA working group at the ZNPP.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Ukraine has continued offensive operations in southern Ukraine, supported by intensive long-range strikes against Russian command and logistics locations across the occupied zone over 30-31 August, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
The latest British intelligence report reads:
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence also released video footage of Ukrainian aircraft operating high speed anti-radiation missiles (HARMs). Russian has previously claimed that it has recovered fragments of these types of weapons, which are designed to locate and destroy radars.
Russia prioritises strong ground-based air defences – the radar coverage which enables this is a critical capability in its Ukraine operation.
A substantial, sustained degradation of Russia’s radars with HARMs would be a major set-back to Russia’s already troubled situational awareness.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 1 September 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/EzSR28cY3k
It is approaching 9am in Ukraine. Here is where things stand:
The Russian-held city of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has come under attack early this morning, Ukrainian officials have said. “Since five o’clock in the morning, constant mortar attacks on the city have not stopped,” the Ukrainian operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Energoatom, said in an update on its official Telegram channel.
Energodar city mayor, Dmytro Orlov, said “several civilian objects were hit” and confirmed there were victims from the attack in a separate post to his Telegram channel. Orlov published a series of images purportedly showing damage to apartment buildings, homes and shops. Thick black smoke can be seen rising in front of one large apartment block while shopfront windows appear shattered. Another photo shows two helicopters in the sky.
Today’s UN nuclear watchdog mission to inspect the Zaporizhzhia plant may be in jeopardy as Russia shells the pre-agreed route to the site, Ukrainian officials say.
Russian forces are shelling the pre-agreed routeto the Zaporizhzhia plant, the regional state administrative head of the Zaporizhzhia region has said. Just before 8.30am on Thursday, Oleksandr Starukh posted an update to his Telegram channel, saying: “The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission from Zaporizhzhia to the ZNPP. The UN advance team cannot continue the movement due to security reasons.”
Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has not stalled or failed, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said. “The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed,” Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video messaged posted to Telegram early on Thursday morning. “It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defence systems, fuel and ammunition depots.” Arestovych cautioned Ukrainians to be patient, adding “there will be no quick wins”.
Ukraine’s armed forces struck strategic bridges in the southern Kherson region to isolate Russian troops located on the right bank of the Dnieper, Arestovych added. Ukraine’s defence ministry said the Kakhovsky and Daryiv bridges, used by Russia to transport equipment and ammunition to the region, were “disabled” in an update posted to Telegram early on Thursday.
The Russian military has “severe manpower shortages” and is seeking to recruit contract service members and may even draw in convicted criminals, a US official has said, citing US intelligence. The official said this may include “compelling wounded soldiers to re-enter combat, acquiring personnel from private security companies, and paying bonuses to conscripts”.
Russia has stopped the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe, citing the need to carry out repairs. The German government rejects the claim, calling it a “pretence”. It said Nord Stream was “fully operational” and that there were no technical issues. The halt on the Baltic Sea pipeline at 5am on Wednesday would last for three days, said Gazprom, the Russian state energy company.
The EU has agreed to suspend a visa travel deal with Moscow.The bloc aims to curb the number of Russian nationals entering for holidays and shopping, but is stopping short of a full tourist visa ban. Meeting in Prague, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers promised to suspend the 2007 visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it relatively easy to obtain travel documents.
Russia shelling pre-agreed route to Zaporizhzhia plant, mayor says
Today’s UN nuclear watchdog mission to inspect the Zaporizhzhia plant may be in jeopardy as Russia shells the pre-agreed route to the site, Ukrainian officials say.
Earlier this morning we reported that the Russian-held city of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, came under attack, according to Ukrainian officials in the region.
The regional state administrative head of the Zaporizhzhia region is now saying Russian forces are shelling the pre-agreed route officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be taking to access the nuclear plant.
Just before 8.30am on Thursday, Oleksandr Starukh posted an update to his Telegram channel, saying:
The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission from Zaporizhzhia to the ZNPP. The UN advance team cannot continue the movement due to security reasons.
Ukraine continues to make efforts to organise safe access of the international IAEA mission to the ZNPP. We demand that the Russian Federation stop the provocations and grant the IAEA unhindered access to the Ukrainian nuclear facility.”
Energodar city mayor, Dmytro Orlov, has released some more information regarding the shelling on the city next to the nuclear plant this morning.
Orlov published a series of images purportedly showing damage to apartment buildings, homes and shops. Thick black smoke can be seen rising in front of one large apartment block while shopfront windows appear shattered.
Another photo shows two helicopters in the sky. Orlov writes:
The very murderers of the civilian population, who are shelling Energodar in the morning with mortars, machine guns and shelling, have used aviation (helicopters are circling over the city) have already reported the dead and wounded as a result of their shelling‼️
The mayor added that he has received information that there may be civilian casualties and residential buildings have been hit.
City home to Zaporizhzhia plant under fire – reports
The Russian-held city of Energodar, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has come under attack early this morning, Ukrainian officials say.
The Ukrainian operator of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Energoatom, posted an update to its official Telegram channel just before 8am local time.
Since five o’clock in the morning, constant mortar attacks on the city have not stopped.”
Energodar city mayor, Dmytro Orlov, said “several civilian objects were hit” and confirmed there were victims from the attack in a separate post to his Telegram channel.
No ‘quick wins’ in Kherson, Zelenskiy adviser says
Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has not stalled or failed, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said.
Oleksiy Arestovych reiterated the offensive was still very much underway in a video messaged posted to Telegram early on Thursday morning.
The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed. It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defence systems, fuel and ammunition depots.
… There will be no quick wins. Initially, a strategy was taken to systematically grind Putin’s army.
It is long, so there is a lot of work to be done.
Black smoke rises at the front line in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region on 30 August. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
Ukraine’s armed forces struck strategic bridges in the southern Kherson region to isolate Russian troops located on the right bank of the Dnieper, Arestovych added.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said the Kakhovsky and Daryiv bridges, used by Russia to transport equipment and ammunition to the region, were “disabled” in an update posted to Telegram early on Thursday.
Nuclear inspectors due at Zaporizhzhia plant
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to inspect the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant today after arriving in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia city on Wednesday.
The technical mission aims to prevent a nuclear accident.
However, uncertainty hangs over the planned inspectors’ visit.
IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, told reporters from Zaporizhzhia city on Wednesday:
If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it’s going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to take a few days.”
On Wednesday the Russian-occupying authorities said the team would be given access for one day.
Members of the IAEA mission depart Kyiv to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to inspect the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant today after arriving in Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia city on Wednesday. The technical mission aims to prevent a nuclear accident.
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has said Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim the souther region of Kherson has not stalled or failed.
It is 7.30am in Kyiv. Here is where things stand:
Ukraine’s counteroffensive to reclaim Kherson has not stalled or failed, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said. “The fact that we have not taken Kherson yet does not mean that the operation in the south has stalled or failed,” Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video messaged posted to Telegram early on Thursday morning. “It is carried out in a planned manner. We destroy enemy logistics, air defence systems, fuel and ammunition depots.” Arestovych cautioned Ukrainians to be patient, adding “there will be no quick wins”.
Ukraine’s armed forces struck strategic bridges in the southern Kherson region to isolate Russian troops located on the right bank of the Dnieper, Arestovych added. Ukraine’s defence ministry said the Kakhovsky and Daryiv bridges, used by Russia to transport equipment and ammunition to the region, were “disabled” in an update posted to Telegram early on Thursday.
Uncertainty hangs over the planned inspectors’ visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. “If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it’s going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to take a few days,” said the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi. On Wednesday the Russian-occupying authorities said the team would be given access for one day.
The Russian military has “severe manpower shortages” and is seeking to recruit contract service members and may even draw in convicted criminals, a US official has said, citing US intelligence. The official said this may include “compelling wounded soldiers to re-enter combat, acquiring personnel from private security companies, and paying bonuses to conscripts”.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the Venice film festival,describing Russia’s war on Ukraine as “a primitive plot in three acts for the world to make three dramatic mistakes: to get used to the war, to put up with the war, to forget about the war”. Zelenskiy told the audience “not to remain silent” and “not to remain neutral”.
Russia has stopped the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe, citing the need to carry out repairs. The German government rejects the claim, calling it a “pretence”. It said Nord Stream was “fully operational” and that there were no technical issues. The halt on the Baltic Sea pipeline at 5am on Wednesday would last for three days, said Gazprom, the Russian state energy company.
Estonia aims to stop most Russians from entering within weeks, its foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, has said. “It takes some time, but I think timing is also critical, looking at these vast numbers of Russian citizens entering.”
The EU has agreed to suspend a visa travel deal with Moscow.The bloc aims to curb the number of Russian nationals entering for holidays and shopping, but is stopping short of a full tourist visa ban. Meeting in Prague, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers promised to suspend the 2007 visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it relatively easy to obtain travel documents.
Zelenskiy welcomed the EU visa measure. “I think it is humiliating for Europe when it is considered as just one big boutique or restaurant,” he said. “When the citizens of the state that wants to destroy European values use Europe for their entertainment or shopping, for the vacation of their mistresses while they themselves work for the war or to simply silently wait out the immoral fall of Russia.”
The US obtained a warrant to seize a $45m airplane owned by Russian energy firm Lukoil, the US justice department said, though the aircraft is currently believed to be in Russia. The aircraft reportedly flew into and out of Russia in violation of US department of commerce sanctions.
G7 finance ministers will discuss the Biden administration’s proposed price cap on Russian oil when they meet on Friday, the White House said. “This is the most effective way, we believe, to hit hard at Putin’s revenue and doing so will result in not only a drop in Putin’s oil revenue, but also global energy prices as well,” said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
A man leaves his damaged apartment building following a Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region of Ukraine on 31 August. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s military pounded residential areas across Ukraine overnight, claiming gains, as Ukrainian forces pressed a counteroffensive to try to take back an occupied southern region, striking the last working bridge over a river in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday.
A Russian rocket attack on the city of Kramatorsk killed three people and wounded 13 others Friday night, according to the mayor. Kramatorsk is the headquarters for Ukrainian forces in the country’s war-torn east.
The attack came less than a day after 11 other rockets were fired at the city, one of the two main Ukrainian-held ones in Donetsk province, the focus of an ongoing Russian offensive to capture eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Saturday its forces had taken control of Pisky, a village on the outskirts of the city of Donetsk, the provincial capital that pro-Moscow separatists have claimed since 2014.
Russian troops and the Kremlin-backed rebels are seeking to seize Ukrainian-held areas north and west of the city of Donetsk to expand the separatists’ self-proclaimed republic. But the Ukrainian military said Saturday that its forces had prevented an overnight advance toward the smaller cities of Avdiivka and Bakhmut.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov also claimed that Russian strikes near Kramatorsk, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Donetsk city, destroyed a U.S.-supplied multiple rocket launcher and ammunition. Ukrainian authorities did not acknowledge any military losses but said that Russian missile strikes Friday on Kramatorsk had destroyed 20 residential buildings.
Neither claim could be independently verified.
The Ukrainian governor of neighboring Luhansk province, which is part of the fight over the Donbas region and was overrun by Russian forces last month, claimed that Ukrainian troops still held a small area. Writing on Telegram, Luhansk Gov. Serhii Haidai said the defending troops remained holed up inside an oil refinery on the edge of Lysychansk, a city that Moscow claimed to have captured, and also control areas near a village.
“The enemy is burning the ground at the entrances to the Luhansk region because it cannot overcome (Ukrainian resistance along) these few kilometers,” Haidai said. “It is difficult to count how many thousands of shells this territory of the free Luhansk region has withstood over the past month and a half.”
Further west, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region reported more Russian shelling of the city of Nikopol, which lies across the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Gov. Yevhen Yevtushenko did not specify whether Russian troops had fired at Nikopol from the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Writing on Telegram, he said Saturday that there were no casualties but residential buildings, a power line and a gas pipeline were damaged.
Nikopol has undergone daily bombardment for most of the past week, and a volley of shells killed three people and damaged 40 apartment buildings on Thursday, he said.
Russia and Ukrainian officials have for days accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia plant in contravention of nuclear safety rules. Russian troops have occupied the plant since the early days of Moscow’s invasion, although the facility’s pre-war Ukrainian nuclear workers continue to run it.
Ukrainian military intelligence alleged Saturday that Russian troops were shelling the plant from a village just kilometers away, damaging a plant pumping station and a fire station. The intelligence directorate said the Russians had bused people into the power plant and mounted a Ukrainian flag on a self-propelled gun on the outskirts of Enerhodar, the city where the plant is located.
“Obviously, it will be used for yet another provocation to accuse the armed forces of Ukraine,” the directorate said, without elaborating.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly alleged that Russian forces were cynically using the plant as a shield while firing at communities across the river, knowing that Ukrainian forces were unlikely to fire back for fear of triggering a nuclear accident.
They said Russian shelling on Friday night killed one woman and injured two other civilians in the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is a straight distance of about 53 kilometers (33 miles) from the plant. Ukraine’s southern Mykolayiv region also said a woman died there in shelling.
For several weeks, Ukraine’s military has tried to lay the groundwork for a counter-offensive to reclaim southern Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson region. A local Ukrainian official reported Saturday that a Ukrainian strike had damaged the last working bridge over the Dnieper River in the region and further crippled Russian supply lines.
“The Russians no longer have any capability to fully turn over their equipment,” Serhii Khlan, a deputy to the Kherson Regional Council, wrote on Facebook. His claims could not be immediately verified.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly mentioned a planned counter-offensive to retake Russian-occupied parts of the country’s south. They urged residents not to post information on social media about military actions related to it and cautioned that any related announcements might come with a time lag.
Days after explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea destroyed up to a dozen aircraft, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said Kyiv should make retaking the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow seized more than eight years ago one of its war aims.
“Russia started a war against Ukraine and the world in 2014, with its brazen seizure of Crimea. It is obvious that this war should end with the liberation of Crimea,” Mykhailo Podoylak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, wrote Saturday on Twitter. “And also with the legal punishment of the initiators of the ‘special military operation’” – the Kremlin’s term for its war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have not claimed responsibility for the explosions at the Saki air base on Tuesday. Russian defense officials denied any aircraft were damaged – or that any attack took place – and attributed the blasts to the sparking of on-site munitions.
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