For the second time in a few days, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The Ukrainian army fired a rocket at the nuclear power plant on Sunday night, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing the occupation administration in the city of Enerhodar, where the power plant is located. The Ukrainian nuclear agency Enerhoatom, on the other hand, accused the Russians of shelling the site under their control themselves.
During the attack, a spent nuclear fuel storage facility was hit and sensors for measuring radiation were damaged. Enerhoatom also reported that shortly before the explosion, hundreds of members of the Russian crew hid in bunkers. The information provided by both sides could not initially be checked independently.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had already informed EU Council President Charles Michel about the latest attack – and called for new sanctions against Russia. “Russia’s nuclear terrorism requires a stronger response from the international community: sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry and nuclear fuel,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. (dpa)
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating nearly 26,000 war crimes cases since the Russian invasion began on February 24. 135 people have been charged, says the head of the war crimes department, Yuri Bilousov, in an interview with Reuters. Of the accused, 15 are in custody in Ukraine and the other 120 are on the run. 13 cases were referred to the courts. Judgments were made in seven cases. “Sometimes we’re asked why we’re going after low-ranking soldiers. It’s simply because they’re here. If the generals were here and we were able to catch them, we’d definitely be going after generals.” (Reuters)
According to the Russian army, it has destroyed tons of ammunition that NATO countries have supplied to Ukraine. A warehouse with a total of 45,000 tons of ammunition was hit in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday. This could not be verified independently. Konashenkov also reported that five other weapons depots had been attacked – one of them in the particularly hard-fought eastern region of Donetsk.
In Donetsk, Russia’s air forces also attacked the small town of Bakhmut, killing up to 130 Ukrainian soldiers, Moscow said. That too could not be verified. Bakhmut is considered the cornerstone of a defensive wall that the Ukrainian army has built around the metropolitan areas of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. This is coming under increasing pressure. (dpa)
The human rights organization Amnesty apologizes in part for its controversial criticism of Ukraine’s war tactics. “Amnesty International deeply regrets the anger and outrage our press release on the combat tactics used by the Ukrainian military has caused,” it said in an email sent to Reuters on Sunday. “Amnesty International’s priority in this and any other conflict is to ensure the protection of civilians. Indeed, that was our only goal when we published this latest investigation. We fully stand by our findings, we regret but that caused suffering.” (Reuters)
According to the state-owned company Energoatom, an employee was injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia on Saturday evening. The site of the interim storage facility, in which 174 casks with spent fuel elements are located outdoors, was hit by rockets, the operator announced on the short message service Telegram.
The nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe and was brought under control by Russian troops at the beginning of the war. The operation is running thanks to Ukrainian technicians. Already on Friday, grenades hit a high-voltage line on the nuclear power plant site. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, spoke on Saturday of the risk of a nuclear catastrophe because of the shelling. (Reuters)
Mr. Schröder has absolutely no understanding of what Russia is really doing, how it is acting. Russia does not want negotiations, Russia wants territories to be conquered.
The first ship with grain exports from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression is not supposed to dock in the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Sunday as planned. “We would like to inform you that the arrival of the ship ‘Razoni’ scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed,” the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon told AFP on Saturday.
When asked about the reasons for the postponement, the embassy stated that it currently has “no further information”. According to a source familiar with the matter, the ship is unlikely to dock in Lebanon if it can sell its cargo to a trader in another country.
So far it had been planned for the freighter “Razoni” to dock in Tripoli on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. local time (09:00 a.m. CEST). The “Razoni” left the port of Odessa in Ukraine on Monday for Lebanon with 26,000 tons of corn on board. Turkish and Russian experts inspected the ship off the coast of Istanbul on Wednesday.
According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, three more ships carrying grain from Ukraine started on Friday morning. The freighters loaded with corn would call at Ireland, Great Britain and Turkey, the ministry said. At the same time, a freighter is on its way to the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk to load grain. (AFP)
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been alarmed by the shelling of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on Saturday warned of the risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond. He was “extremely concerned” about Friday’s events. Any military firepower aimed at or emanating from the facility would be playing with fire, with possible catastrophic consequences,” Grossi explained. Endangering the security of Zaporizhia must be avoided “at all costs”.
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was occupied by the Russian army in March, but is still operated by the Ukrainian state-owned company Energoatom and its workforce. Ukraine and the US accuse Russia of using the nuclear power plant as a protective shield. Russia rejects this.
On Friday, Energoatom shut down one of the six reactors after an artillery shell damaged a high-voltage power line that is vital to the operation. Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the shelling and accused each other of risking a nuclear disaster. According to Energoatom, no radioactivity escaped. (Reuters)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is again pushing for access to the Russian-held facility after the shelling of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Friday’s attack “underscores the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Saturday. He stated that damage had occurred on the site, but that the reactors were intact and no radioactivity had escaped.
A site visit by an IAEA team would help stabilize nuclear safety on site and provide independent information on the state of the nuclear plant. Grossi called on Ukraine and Russia to finally make such an IAEA mission possible together.
While Moscow blamed Ukrainian troops for the shelling, Kyiv said the Russians had shelled the area themselves. The information cannot be verified independently. (dpa)
Is the Pope going to Ukraine soon? The Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican fueled this rumor after an audience with Francis on Saturday. Ukraine has been waiting for the head of the Catholic Church since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, Andriy Yurasch wrote on Twitter. And they will be happy to “welcome him before his trip to Kazakhstan”. The pontiff is planning a three-day trip to Kazakhstan for September 13.
The Vatican did not make any details of the conversation with Jurasch public, but only confirmed the meeting on Saturday morning. The ambassador, on the other hand, reported that Francis had underlined his closeness to the Ukrainian people and expressed his willingness to show this closeness during a visit.
Since the outbreak of the war, the 85-year-old Argentine has repeatedly said that he would like to visit the country to promote peace. At least a trip to Kyiv seems very unlikely at the moment, because Francis is physically ailing and a long and arduous train journey can hardly be expected of him. It is still not possible to fly to the capital of Ukraine. (dpa)
A ship carrying 33,000 tons of corn from Ukraine arrived in Istanbul on Saturday for inspection. This was announced by the Turkish Ministry of Defense on Twitter. It is the second grain carrier since Turkey brokered an international agreement on Ukrainian exports across the Black Sea. Two more ships are expected shortly.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that Turkey will henceforth pay for Russian gas supplies in rubles and will also make greater use of the Russian payment system Mir. A new plan to strengthen economic cooperation will serve as a “source of power between Turkey and Russia in financial matters,” Erdogan said on his return flight from the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, according to the Anadolu Agency. There he met President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The use of the Mir payment system will also make it easier for Russian tourists to stay in Turkey, Erdogan said. (dpa)
According to the Ukrainian state operator, one of the nuclear reactors was shut down after attacks on the site of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The “emergency protection system” was triggered by the air strikes and the reactor was switched off, Energoatom said on Saturday in the online service Telegram. Ukraine and Russia blame each other for Friday’s attacks.
According to Energoatom, the bombings “seriously damaged” an “auxiliary building” and a nitrogen and oxygen station. There is still a risk of radioactive radiation and an increased risk of fire, the operator explained. However, the Ukrainian staff is working and the power plant continues to produce electricity.
On Saturday, the EU condemned “Russia’s military activities surrounding the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant”. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted: “This is a serious and irresponsible violation of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms.”
Russian troops took control of the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and Europe in March shortly after the troops marched into the country. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been trying to send inspectors to the facility for weeks. Ukraine has so far refused to do so, saying it would legitimize Russia’s occupation of the site in the eyes of the international community. (AFP)
