The Ukrainian military said Russian shelling was recorded in dozens of towns along the eastern and southern front lines. Reuters reports that Ukraine’s military said late Saturday that Russian forces had shelled dozens of front-line towns and were trying 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 last week its forces “achieved strong results” in destroying Russia’s logistics supplies and rear bases. He said in a late night speech: “Each strike on the enemy’s ammunition depots, their command posts and accumulations of Russian equipment saves the lives of all of us, the lives of Ukrainian servicemen and civilians. Reuters also reports:
Russia’s war in Ukraine is set to enter a new phase, with most of the fighting shifting to a nearly 350-kilometer (217-mile) front stretching southwest from near Zaporizhia to Kherson, British military intelligence said. North Macedonia has agreed to supply tanks and planes to Ukraine to prevent Moscow’s continued invasion, a senior aide to Ukraine’s president Mykhailo Podolyak said. The next arms package to Ukraine from the United States was expected to be $1 billion and include ammunition for long-range weapons and armored medical transport vehicles, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.
More about the Zaporizhzhia Power Plant Reuters reports:
Shells struck a high-voltage power line at the plant, prompting operators to shut down a reactor even though no radioactive leak was detected. The factory was seized by Russian forces in early March, but is still operated by its Ukrainian technicians. Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage to the power plant. The Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of bombing the plant, saying the radioactive leak had been avoided only by luck. 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.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement on Saturday:
I am extremely concerned about yesterday’s bombing of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which highlights the very real danger of a nuclear disaster.”
Both sides have accused each other of engaging in “nuclear terrorism”.
Read more here: Caroline Davis Good morning and welcome to the blog, where we begin with a summary of the latest developments.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed serious concerns about the bombing of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced it had opened criminal charges against what it said was Russian military shelling of the Zaporizhia power plant on Friday. The Ukrainian military said Russian shelling was recorded in dozens of towns along the eastern and southern front lines. The head of Amnesty International’s office in Ukraine has resigned from the human rights body in a dispute with it after the organization accused Ukraine’s armed forces of putting civilians at risk by deploying troops in residential areas during the Russian invasion. A foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the start of the war and will be loaded with grain, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said.
I’m Caroline Davies and I’ll be taking you through other developments throughout the day. You can contact [email protected]
