According to the local mayor, the situation around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia is becoming more and more precarious. The risk of a nuclear catastrophe at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “is growing every day,” the mayor of Enerhodar, where the nuclear power plant is located, said in a phone call to AFP on Sunday. The Russian army is shelling “the infrastructure that ensures the safe operation of the power plant,” added Dmytro Orlov.
“What is happening is downright nuclear terrorism,” criticized Enerhodar’s mayor Orlov from the city of Zaporizhia, which is still under Ukrainian control. “It can end unexpectedly at any time.” The fire protection rules are violated again and again and the situation “continues to heat up”.
The Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov, who represents Moscow at the UN, sees the United Nations as having a say in the struggle for the safety of the nuclear power plant. He explained that an expert visit had been practically prepared. “The UN Secretariat blocked it at the last moment without explaining the reasons,” the diplomat said. According to reports, the UN had not previously allowed IAEA boss Rafael Grossi to travel, not only for security reasons, but also because there was a dispute about the route to be taken. To the anger of Ukraine, Grossi could travel under Russian protection via the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
In view of the fighting over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Ukrainian President Zelenskyj is calling on the West to impose sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry. The punitive measures would have to be taken by the nuclear industry of the aggressor state, said Selenskyj in a video speech distributed on Saturday evening. Nuclear power Russia builds or operates nuclear power plants in several countries and also stores radioactive waste. Russia is using the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to blackmail the Ukrainian leadership and the whole world, Zelenskyy said.
According to Zelenskyy, the situation in eastern Ukraine remains difficult, but without major changes. The Kharkiv region in particular is repeatedly attacked, but the defense is holding up. Meanwhile, Russia has deployed “colossal resources” in terms of artillery, personnel and equipment in the Donbass. In the south, according to Zelensky, the Ukrainian military repeatedly manages to strike at the “Russian occupiers”. For example, the car bridge of the Nowa Kakhovka dam in the Cherson region was no longer passable after several attacks. On top of that, the last of the only three river crossings across the Dnipro had now been destroyed. This is intended to prevent the supply of parts of the Russian army.
Russia says it has fired on targets in dozens of towns in eastern Ukraine in new rocket and artillery attacks. The attacks concentrated on the Donetsk region, in the neighboring region of Kharkiv the village of Udy had been taken, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday in Moscow.
According to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Russian army has been increasing its ground attacks in eastern Ukraine for three days. Especially in the Siwersk region in the Donetsk region and around the city of Bakhmut, the fighting has become fierce again. The ISW authors’ theory: The Russians are trying to attack the Ukrainians here to distract them from attacks in the south.
The Russians hope that the Ukrainians will move war equipment and soldiers to the east instead of advancing further south. Ukraine has been pricking the south for weeks without launching a major counter-offensive. The Ukrainian army is still uniting troops to launch a powerful attack wave. This project could now be delayed by the Russian attacks in the east.
In his nightly TV speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the situation in eastern Ukraine remained difficult, but without any major changes. The Kharkiv region in particular is repeatedly attacked, but the defense is holding up. Meanwhile, Russia has deployed “colossal resources” in terms of artillery, personnel and equipment in the Donbass.
But there is also good news in the south. There, according to Zelensky, the Ukrainian military repeatedly manages to deal blows to the “Russian occupiers”. According to Ukrainian sources, the car bridge of the Nowa Kakhovka dam in the Cherson region is no longer passable as a result of several attacks. The Ukrainian Army Command South announced on Facebook on Saturday that the bridge had been deliberately rendered unusable by rocket and artillery units.
According to this, the Ukrainian army has now succeeded in using long-range missile systems to destroy the last of the only three river crossings. This is intended to prevent the Russian army from being replenished on the right bank of the Dnipro and to enable recapture. The Ukrainians had previously rendered the railway bridge and the road bridge at Cherson unusable. Russian troops built a civilian ferry service across the river, and reportedly several pontoon bridges for the military as well.
In view of the ongoing attacks on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again accused Russia of “blackmail”. The “occupiers” used the nuclear power plant to spread fear “in an extremely cynical way”, Zelenskyj said in his daily video message on Saturday evening. Moscow and Kyiv have been blaming each other for the attacks near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by the Russian army since early March.
Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of “hiding” behind the Zaporizhia nuclear power station to shell the Ukrainian-controlled cities of Nikopol and Marhanets. Every day that the Russian contingent stays in the nuclear area increases “the nuclear threat to Europe,” Zelensky said. He called for “new sanctions” against Russia aimed at “blocking” Russia’s nuclear industry.
Those responsible for this “extortion” must be judged “before an international court,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyi also described the transport of Ukrainian grain and foodstuffs via the Black Sea ports as good news. Meanwhile, 16 ships with corn, wheat, soybean, sunflower oil and other products have left to ease the situation on the global food market. The proceeds from the sale would benefit the state and the farmers, who could now sow the new seeds, Zelenskyj said. “It’s an important element on the way to victory,” he says.
Agricultural exports via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports were blocked for months because of the war. On July 22, the war opponents Ukraine and Russia, each signed an agreement with Turkey through UN mediation, to allow grain exports from Ukraine again. A coordination center in Istanbul is staffed by representatives of the four parties. Among other things, the inspections are intended to ensure that ships do not have any weapons loaded.
Almost six months after the blocking of EU airspace for aircraft from Russia, there are still ten aircraft owned or controlled by Russia in Germany. This was reported by the editorial network Germany (RND) on Sunday, citing the Federal Ministry of Transport. “Since the machines are subject to a take-off and flight ban due to the EU sanctions regime, they cannot be used by the owner and cannot be taken to another location,” the ministry was quoted as saying.
Zelenskyy expects the further transport of grain across the Black Sea. In the south and east of Ukraine and around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the warring parties are preparing for new battles.
