The Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia was taken off the grid in the evening. Meanwhile, Moscow is accusing Ukraine of attacking the nuclear power plant – despite a UN mission. Several children are said to have been killed through careless handling of ammunition. You can find all the latest news about the war in Ukraine in the ticker.
Sunday, September 4, 9:37 am: The Ukrainian army has reported an attack on an “enemy command post” in the war against the Russian army. The army in Kyiv did not initially name an exact location on Sunday. The attack hit military equipment and destroyed a mobile radar system. In addition, Russian attacks, for example in the town of Bakhmut in the Donbass and the nearby settlement of Pokrovske, were repelled. The information could not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian army also registered more than 24 airstrikes by the “enemy” within 24 hours. Military and civilian objects were hit, the report said. No details were given. Because Russia lacks high-precision weapons, the Russian army uses “more often obsolete S-300 missile systems”. More than 500 of these rockets have already been fired into Ukrainian territory.
8:35 p.m .: Several children were killed and injured in Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks and negligent handling of ammunition. “In Zelenodolsk, the Russians killed a nine-year-old boy,” military governor of the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Resnichenko, said on his Telegram channel on Saturday. A total of about ten people were injured by the rocket attacks, most of them seriously. Independent verification of the data is not possible.
There were also rocket attacks in the Mykolayiv region in southern Ukraine. There, an eight-year-old child is said to have been killed by the impacts, two other children and four adults were injured.
In the north of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region, the authorities also reported numerous Russian artillery hits, in which several buildings were damaged. Here, however, negligence on the part of the Ukrainians themselves was to blame for the injuries to several children: a shot was fired from a grenade launcher at a weapons exhibition in the regional capital of Chernihiv. Five people, including four children between the ages of two and twelve, were injured in the incident. The public prosecutor’s office has launched investigations.
Ukraine President Zelenskyy condemned the injury of several children at the arms show in the evening. The Ukrainian President promised that the incident was “unacceptable” and that those responsible for this negligent demonstration would be punished.
6:31 p.m .: The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, occupied by Russian troops, has again been taken off the grid. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Saturday that the connection between the last remaining main power line of the power plant and the supply grid had been interrupted. The IAEA was informed “on site today” that the plant would continue to supply electricity via a reserve line.
“One reactor is still operating and producing electricity for both cooling and other essential safety functions of the facility and for homes, factories and others,” the IAEA statement said.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russia since March, and its surroundings have been repeatedly shelled in recent weeks. Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attacks. As early as August 25, the nuclear power plant was temporarily completely cut off from the power grid – for the first time in the history of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
According to the IAEA report, the nuclear power plant originally had a total of four main power lines. Three of them had been cut off “earlier during the conflict”.
5:08 p.m .: The situation around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remains unclear. The Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow on Saturday accused the Ukrainian army of wanting to recapture the nuclear power plant despite the presence of international nuclear experts.
250 soldiers and “foreign mercenaries” were involved in the operation. The Russian army claims to have repelled the attack and destroyed several boats in the process. According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, 47 “militants” have been killed. This information could not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian military in turn accused Russia of carrying out attacks in the direction of Zaporizhia on Saturday night. Details were not given in the army report. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, a power line is said to have been damaged by the shelling. Therefore, the power supply to the area not occupied by Russia was interrupted.
A group of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been in the nuclear power plant since Thursday to examine the plant for possible damage.
2:03 p.m .: According to information from Kyiv, at least 380 children have been killed since the Russian war against Ukraine began more than six months ago. This was announced by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office on Saturday in the Telegram news channel. In addition, at least 737 children have been injured in the past six months. The public prosecutor pointed out that these are preliminary figures. It is difficult to collect data in Russian-occupied or contested areas.
The Donetsk region in the east had the most injured and killed children with 388 victims, followed by the Kharkiv region (204). In addition, a total of 2,328 educational institutions were damaged by bombs or shelling. 289 of them were completely destroyed. The authority blamed Russia for this.
1:55 p.m .: According to Russian information, the Ukrainian military is continuing its counter-offensive in the south of the country, but with high losses. The Kyiv “regime” is continuing its unsuccessful attempts to establish itself in the area between Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih, the Defense Ministry reported in Moscow on Saturday.
Ukraine lost 23 tanks and 27 combat vehicles. In addition, more than 230 soldiers are said to have been killed. Hospitals lacked beds and blood supplies. The information could not be independently verified. Ukraine itself does not provide any more detailed information about the offensive launched on Monday.
Saturday, 11:26 a.m .: According to British secret services, Ukraine is currently pushing a broad advance on three axes west of the Dnipro River in its counter-offensive in the Cherson region in the south of the country. Although this offensive only had limited immediate targets, it probably surprised the Russians tactically, according to a short report by the Ministry of Defense in London on Saturday. This would expose logistical shortcomings and weaknesses in the leadership of the Russian offensive. Russian commanders would now have to decide which region to focus on for supplies and reserve troops.
Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine at the end of February, the British government has regularly published intelligence information on its progress. Moscow accuses London of a targeted disinformation campaign.
Also read: Ukraine soldiers talk about counter-offensive – “Go in, finish them off and take back what is ours”
6:24 p.m .: According to its own statements, the Ukrainian army fired on a Russian base near the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Friday.
In the city of Enerhodar and in the city of Cherson, also in the south, three Russian artillery systems and an ammunition depot were destroyed by “precise attacks”, the Ukrainian armed forces said. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are currently staying at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the Enerhodar area.
You can read more reports on the Ukraine conflict on the following pages.
