August 07 — 2022 — 07:00
UN's nuclear watchdog warns on Ukraine plant; Russia shells 'dozens' of towns
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency raised grave concern about shelling at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as its military said Russian forces had attacked dozens of front-line towns.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what President Vladimir Putin termed a “special military operation”, the conflict has settled into a war of attrition fought largely in Ukraine's east and south.
But the fighting over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the south, captured by Russian forces in the opening stage of the war but still run by Ukrainian technicians, has raised the prospect of a wider disaster.
“I'm extremely concerned by the shelling yesterday at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
Both sides have accused each other of engaging in “nuclear terrorism”.
Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage while Russia's defence ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant.
The US has accused Russia of using it as a “nuclear shield” while Russia's defence ministry said damage to the plant had only been avoided thanks to the “skilful, competent and effective actions” of its units.
Grossi, who leads the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, urged all sides to exercise the “utmost restraint”.
Shells hit a high-voltage power line on Friday at the facility, prompting its operators to disconnect a reactor despite no radioactive leak being detected.
While the world's attention was focused on the nuclear plant, the war was grinding on in the east and south.
Russia is trying to gain control of the largely Russian-speaking Donbas region in the east, comprises Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, where pro-Moscow separatists seized territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea to the south in 2014.
Ukraine's military said late on Saturday that Russian forces had shelled dozens of front-line towns and were trying to attack in six different areas in the Donetsk region, all of which failed to gain any territory and were held back by Ukrainian forces.
Reuters could not verify either side's assertions about battlefield developments.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday said that over the past week its forces had “achieved powerful results” in destroying Russia's logistics supplies and rear bases.
“Every strike on the enemy's ammunition depots, on their command posts, and on accumulations of Russian equipment saves the lives of all of us, the lives of Ukrainian military and civilians,” he said in a late-night video address.
British military intelligence said earlier that Russian forces were almost certainly amassing in the south, anticipating a counteroffensive or in preparation for an assault, and the war was about to enter a new phase, with most fighting shifting to a nearly 350km (217 mile) front from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnieper River.
Ukraine's forces were focusing on hitting bridges, ammunition depots, and rail links with growing frequency in its southern regions, including the strategically important railroad spur that links Kherson to Russian-occupied Crimea, it said.
In a positive development, Ukraine is starting to resume grain exports, easing fears of a global food crisis, in an effort overseen by a Joint co-ordination Centre in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel are working.
Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
On Saturday, a foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the war started, to load up with grain, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
Zelensky welcomed the resumption of exports though he said risks remained.
“The threat of Russian provocations and terrorist acts remains. Everyone should be aware of this,” he said.”
But if our partners fulfil their part of the commitment and guarantee the security of supplies, this will really solve the global food crisis.
“Following uproar over a human rights report by the group Amnesty International, which accused Ukraine's armed forces of endangering civilians by basing troops in residential areas during the invasion, the head of its Ukraine office quit saying she had opposed its publication.
The Amnesty report drew fierce criticism from the Ukrainian government with Zelensky leading denunciations, accusing the group of “trying to shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim”.
An Amnesty spokesperson said it was sorry to see the head of its Ukraine office leave and the group was preparing a further statement on the contentious report.
Ukrainian officials say they take every possible measure to evacuate civilians from front-line areas. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it describes as a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Reuters
UKRAINE UPDATES | Russia ready to discuss swap after Brittney Griner's sentence
Image: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
August 07 — 2022 — 13:
August 07 — 2022 — 13:15
Pope hails departure of Ukrainian grain ships as 'sign of hope'
Pope Francis on Sunday welcomed the departure from Ukrainian Black Sea ports of the first ships carrying grain previously blockaded by Russia, saying the breakthrough could be a model for dialogue to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
The first ship, the Razoni, set off on Aug. 1 with seven more following through Sunday thanks to a grain and fertiliser export deal between Moscow and Kyiv brokered by Turkey and the United Nations last month.
It came after UN warnings of possible outbreaks of famine in some areas of the world due to a halt in grain shipments from Ukraine that had squeezed supplies and sent prices soaring.
"This step shows that it is possible to conduct dialogue to reach concrete results, which help everyone," Pope Francis said at his weekly address to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square.
"This event presents itself as a sign of hope and my own heartfelt wish is that following this path, it will be possible to bring an end to the fighting and reach a just and lasting peace," he said.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel are inspecting ships.
In June, the pope appealed for an end to the blockade on seaborne exports of wheat from Ukraine, saying the grain could not be used as a "weapon of war".
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 12:30
Ukraine says worker wounded in new Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom said on Sunday that a worker was wounded when Russian forces again shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, on Saturday evening.
The site of the plant's dry storage facility, where 174 containers with spent nuclear fuel are stored in the open air, was hit by rocket attacks, Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging app.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had raised grave concerns on Saturday about shelling the previous day at Zaporizhzhia, saying the action showed the risk of a nuclear disaster.
The Zaporizhzhia plant was captured by Russian forces in the opening stage of the war but is still run by Ukrainian technicians.
Shells hit a high-voltage power line on Friday at the nuclear facility, prompting its operators to disconnect a reactor despite no radioactive leak being detected.
Both sides accused each other on Saturday of engaging in "nuclear terrorism". Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage while Russia's defence ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant.
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 11:44
Russia's Chubais discharged from Italian hospital after treatment
Anatoly Chubais, the former privatisation tsar of post-Soviet Russia who quit his post as a Kremlin special envoy due to the war in Ukraine, has been discharged from a hospital in Italy after treatment, an Italian daily reported.
Two sources close to Chubais, 67, told Reuters on Aug. 1 that he was in intensive care in Europe with a rare immune disorder.
According to the sources, Chubais believed he was suffering from Guillain–Barre syndrome, a disease caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system. Some media and opposition activists had speculated he could have been poisoned.
Results of toxicological tests were not yet available but Chubais responded to treatment "so doctors are certain" they were dealing with Guillain-Barre, Italian daily La Repubblica reported on its website.
"He feels better," La Repubblica said, adding Chubais was discharged in the late morning of Saturday from Mater Olbia hospital on the island of Sardinia.
It said Chubais walked out of the hospital without assistance and left for Frankfurt in Germany to spend time in a rehab clinic, according to the report.
The hospital did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Chubais, who once served as former Russian president Boris Yeltsin's chief of staff, was President Vladimir Putin's special representative for ties with international organisations before his resignation.
Reuters reported on March 23, almost a month after Russia invaded Ukraine, that Chubais had quit his post and left the country.
The most powerful of a group of Russian economists who sought to cement the transition to capitalism after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Chubais sold off some of Russia's biggest industrial assets in the 1990s.
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 10:00
Western governments are alarmed over Turkey's deepening ties with Russia
Western governments are increasingly alarmed about deepening economic ties between Turkey and Russia, warning of the mounting risk that Turkey could be hit by punitive retaliation if it helps Russia avoid sanctions, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agreed to boost cooperation in the transport, agriculture, finance and construction industries.
Six Western officials told FT that they were concerned about the agreement.
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 08:07
Hiroshima prays for peace, fears new arms race on atomic bombing anniversary
Bells tolled in Hiroshima on Saturday as the city marked the 77th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing, with officials including the United Nations secretary-general warning of a new arms race following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
August 07 — 2022 — 07:30
War in Ukraine set to enter new phase -UK military intelligence
Russia's war in Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, with most fighting shifting to a nearly 350 kilometre (217 mile) front stretching southwest from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnieper River, British military intelligence said on Saturday.
Russian forces are almost certainly amassing in the south of Ukraine, anticipating a counteroffensive or in preparation for a possible assault, the UK's Ministry of Defence said on Twitter.
Long convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, towed artillery and other weapons continue to move away from Ukraine's Donbas region and are headed southwest.
Battalion tactical groups (BTG), which comprise between 800 and 1,000 troops, have been deployed to Crimea and would almost certainly be used to support Russian troops in the Kherson region, the update said.
Ukraine's forces are focusing their targeting on bridges, ammunition depots, rail links with growing frequency in its southern regions, including the strategically important railroad spur that links Kherson to Russian-occupied Crimea, it said.
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 07:00
UN's nuclear watchdog warns on Ukraine plant; Russia shells 'dozens' of towns
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency raised grave concern about shelling at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as its military said Russian forces had attacked dozens of front-line towns.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what President Vladimir Putin termed a “special military operation”, the conflict has settled into a war of attrition fought largely in Ukraine's east and south.
But the fighting over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the south, captured by Russian forces in the opening stage of the war but still run by Ukrainian technicians, has raised the prospect of a wider disaster.
“I'm extremely concerned by the shelling yesterday at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
Both sides have accused each other of engaging in “nuclear terrorism”.
Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage while Russia's defence ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant.
The US has accused Russia of using it as a “nuclear shield” while Russia's defence ministry said damage to the plant had only been avoided thanks to the “skilful, competent and effective actions” of its units.
Grossi, who leads the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, urged all sides to exercise the “utmost restraint”.
Shells hit a high-voltage power line on Friday at the facility, prompting its operators to disconnect a reactor despite no radioactive leak being detected.
While the world's attention was focused on the nuclear plant, the war was grinding on in the east and south.
Russia is trying to gain control of the largely Russian-speaking Donbas region in the east, comprises Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, where pro-Moscow separatists seized territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea to the south in 2014.
Ukraine's military said late on Saturday that Russian forces had shelled dozens of front-line towns and were trying to attack in six different areas in the Donetsk region, all of which failed to gain any territory and were held back by Ukrainian forces.
Reuters could not verify either side's assertions about battlefield developments.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday said that over the past week its forces had “achieved powerful results” in destroying Russia's logistics supplies and rear bases.
“Every strike on the enemy's ammunition depots, on their command posts, and on accumulations of Russian equipment saves the lives of all of us, the lives of Ukrainian military and civilians,” he said in a late-night video address.
British military intelligence said earlier that Russian forces were almost certainly amassing in the south, anticipating a counteroffensive or in preparation for an assault, and the war was about to enter a new phase, with most fighting shifting to a nearly 350km (217 mile) front from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnieper River.
Ukraine's forces were focusing on hitting bridges, ammunition depots, and rail links with growing frequency in its southern regions, including the strategically important railroad spur that links Kherson to Russian-occupied Crimea, it said.
In a positive development, Ukraine is starting to resume grain exports, easing fears of a global food crisis, in an effort overseen by a Joint co-ordination Centre in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel are working.
Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
On Saturday, a foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the war started, to load up with grain, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
Zelensky welcomed the resumption of exports though he said risks remained.
“The threat of Russian provocations and terrorist acts remains. Everyone should be aware of this,” he said.”
But if our partners fulfil their part of the commitment and guarantee the security of supplies, this will really solve the global food crisis.
“Following uproar over a human rights report by the group Amnesty International, which accused Ukraine's armed forces of endangering civilians by basing troops in residential areas during the invasion, the head of its Ukraine office quit saying she had opposed its publication.
The Amnesty report drew fierce criticism from the Ukrainian government with Zelensky leading denunciations, accusing the group of “trying to shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim”.
An Amnesty spokesperson said it was sorry to see the head of its Ukraine office leave and the group was preparing a further statement on the contentious report.
Ukrainian officials say they take every possible measure to evacuate civilians from front-line areas. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it describes as a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 06:30
First foreign-flagged ship arrives in Ukraine since start of war
A foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the start of the war in February, and will be loaded with grain, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
Writing on Facebook, he said the Barbados-flagged general cargo ship Fulmar S was in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk.
Reuters
August 07 — 2022 — 06:15
Russia ready to discuss swap after Brittney Griner's sentence
Russia said it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with the US in private, a day after a Russian court jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for nine years for bringing cannabis oil into the country.
August 07 — 2022 — 06:00
Ukraine buries grain tycoon killed by Russia
Orthodox chants of mourning resounded in a packed central Kyiv cathedral as Ukraine buried an agricultural tycoon with his wife after they were killed in a missile strike that hit his home last weekend.
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