The assessment came as both sides traded blame for fresh bombings at Europe’s largest nuclear plant, with the UN nuclear watchdog raising serious concerns about the attack. “Russian troops are almost certainly massing in the south, either awaiting a Ukrainian counterattack or preparing to attack. “Large convoys of Russian military trucks, tanks, artillery and other things continue to move from Donbass to the southwest,” the UK Ministry of Defense said, confirming earlier claims by Ukraine’s deputy chief of military intelligence. According to a separate source from Ukraine’s military intelligence, Russian forces are causing fire damage along the front lines in the occupied Kherson region to prevent Ukrainian forces from pushing back from their positions and adding more units to attack the Mykolaiv and in southern Dnipropetrovsk, as well as conducting aerial reconnaissance of the area with drones. In the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, the Russians are actively attacking Ukrainian troops while bringing in new units to bolster their numbers, according to the same source. One of the major obstacles to Ukraine’s offensive in the south could be the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which was bombed on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a crime and an “act of terror”, saying the bombing was carried out by Russian forces. In a phone call Sunday with European Council chief Charles Michel about the plant, Zelenskiy called for sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry and nuclear fuel in response. But the head of Zaporizhia’s occupation authorities, Yevgeny Balitsky, said Ukrainian forces were responsible and had “decided to bring the whole of Europe to the brink of a nuclear disaster” by bombing the plant. It was not possible on Saturday to independently determine which side was responsible for the attack on the power station. Ukraine says Russia has turned the plant into a military base, making it extremely difficult to target Russian troops and equipment inside. According to the New York Times, Russia has been using the plant as cover from which to fire on Ukrainian forces since mid-July. Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed on August 3 that Russian forces were likely to use the power plant to “play on Western fears of a nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine in an attempt to downplay Western willingness to provide military support to a Ukrainian counteroffensive.” The ISW further said that Russia was “effectively using the plant as a nuclear shield to prevent Ukrainian strikes on Russian forces and equipment.” Ukraine’s nuclear power agency, Energoatom, said spent fuel canisters were hit in the latest shelling, damaging three radiation monitoring sensors and injuring an employee. Spent fuel is highly radioactive, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a statement on Telegram, Energoatom said the damage means it is currently impossible to detect increased radiation or radiation leakage from the spent fuel canisters. The UN nuclear watchdog called for an immediate end to all military action near the plant. Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the size of the plant “highlights the real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond.” The UK Ministry of Defense predicts Russia’s war in Ukraine will soon enter a “new phase” as it believes fighting will shift from Donbas to a 217-mile front running southwest from near Zaporizhia to Kherson . Currently, the brunt of Russia’s attacks are around what’s left of eastern Donbas controlled by Ukraine. Russian forces are still trying to achieve their goal of capturing all of Donbas. Russian forces now control Luhansk Oblast, with the exception of a few small settlements, and about half of Donetsk Oblast. Russia is currently carrying out two offensives to capture the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka and continues to shell dozens of towns and villages from all directions, according to a statement from Ukraine’s general staff. Russian forces now appear to be taking the southern part of Pisky, a village in the Donetsk region near Avdivvka, as well as the small settlement of Travneve, 11 miles south of Bakhmut, according to ISW, which said the Ukrainian military appeared to is holding the line elsewhere. Ukraine’s general staff said on Sunday that Russia is deploying troops and air defense systems to Belarus. However, the same Ukrainian military intelligence source said no aggressive formations had been detected in Belarus, although rocket attacks from its northern neighborhood continued to pose a threat. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Meanwhile, four more ships have successfully left Ukrainian ports, raising hopes that a deal brokered by Turkey and the UN to end Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports may go ahead. Russia’s decision to strike the port of Odessa just hours after the deal was signed called that into question. The agreement is valid for 120 days and can be renewed if both sides agree. The first ship to leave Ukrainian ports since the invasion left on Monday. Twenty million tons of grain have been stuck in Ukraine since February, pushing some import-dependent countries in the Middle East and North Africa toward starvation. Before the war, Ukraine exported about 6 to 8 million tons of grain per month. Using its rivers and railways, Ukraine manages to export about 2 million tonnes a month and hopes that reopening its ports will raise the total to 3 million a month in four to six weeks, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister told Bloomberg , Oleksandr Kubrakov.
