Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what President Vladimir Putin called a “special military operation,” the conflict has devolved into a war of attrition fought largely in eastern and southern Ukraine. But fighting over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south, seized by Russian forces early in the war but still run by Ukrainian technicians, has raised the prospect of a wider disaster. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “I am extremely concerned by yesterday’s bombing of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which highlights the very real risk of nuclear catastrophe,” 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 company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage, while the Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant. The United States accused Russia of using it as a “nuclear shield”, while the Russian Defense Ministry said damage to the plant had only been avoided thanks to the “skillful, competent and effective actions” of its units. Grossi, who heads the United Nations nuclear watchdog, urged all sides to show “the utmost restraint.” Shells hit a high-voltage power line Friday at the facility, prompting its operators to shut down a reactor despite no detection of a radioactive leak. read more While the world’s attention was focused on the nuclear power plant, the war continued in the east and south. Russia is trying to gain control of the predominantly Russian-speaking region of Donbass in the east, made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, where pro-Moscow separatists seized territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea in the south in 2014. Ukraine’s military announced late Saturday that Russian forces had shelled dozens of front-line towns and were attempting to attack six different areas in the Donetsk region, which failed to gain any ground and were held by Ukrainian forces. Reuters was unable to verify either side’s claims about developments on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that its forces last week “achieved strong results” in destroying Russia’s logistics supplies and rear bases. “Every strike on the enemy’s ammunition depots, their command posts and stockpiles of Russian equipment saves the lives of all of us, the lives of Ukrainian servicemen and civilians,” he said in a midnight video address.
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British military intelligence earlier said Russian forces were almost certainly massing in the south, anticipating a counter-attack or preparing an offensive, and the war was about to enter a new phase, with most of the fighting shifting almost 350 km (217 mi) ahead. from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnieper River. Ukrainian forces have been focusing on hitting bridges, ammunition depots and rail links with increasing frequency in its southern regions, including the strategically important rail route linking Kherson with Russian-held Crimea. In a positive development, Ukraine is beginning to resume grain exports, allaying fears of a global food crisis, in an effort overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul staffed by Russians, Ukrainians, Turks and UN staff. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said a second four-ship caravan of Ukrainian agricultural products had sailed from Black Sea ports. The first four ships left Ukraine last week under the deal. Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of world wheat exports. read more Zelensky welcomed the resumption of exports although he said risks remained. “The threat of Russian provocations and acts of terrorism remains. Everyone should be aware of that,” he said. “But if our partners fulfill their part of the commitment and guarantee security of supply, this will really solve the global food crisis.” Following the uproar over a human rights report by Amnesty International, which accused Ukraine’s armed forces of putting civilians at risk by deploying troops in residential areas during the invasion, the head of its Ukraine office resigned, saying was opposed to its publication. Amnesty’s report drew fierce criticism from the Ukrainian government, with Zelensky leading the charge, accusing the group of “trying to shift the blame from the aggressor to the victim”. read more An Amnesty spokesman said it was sorry to see its head of office in Ukraine leave and the group was preparing a further statement on the controversial report. Ukrainian officials say they are taking every possible measure to remove civilians from frontline areas. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it describes as a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report from Reuters offices. Edited by Robert Birsel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
