Russian war of aggression
War against Ukraine: This is the situation
The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are idle but need to be cooled. photo
© LIBKOS/AP/dpa
Europe’s largest nuclear facility in Ukraine has been occupied by Russia for two years. Now drones explode over the power plant. The developments at a glance.
The Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the south of the Ukraine has become the target of drone attacks. The protective cover of the sixth reactor was hit three times, said the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, on the social network X (formerly Twitter). According to the IAEA, nuclear safety was not at risk. Nevertheless, this was “a serious incident that had the potential to violate the integrity of the reactor protective shell,” said the authority, which has a team of observers constantly on site. The Russian power plant management blamed Ukraine for the attacks; Kyiv rejected this.
The Russian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv continued on Sunday. In Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj urged Western partners to provide more anti-aircraft systems to protect the city in his evening video message. The night of Monday began again in Ukraine with attacks by Russian combat drones, which primarily threatened the south and north of the country. On Monday the 775th day of the Russian war of aggression will be counted.
First direct hits on nuclear power plants since the end of 2022
According to Grossi, the direct hits on Europe’s largest nuclear facility, Zaporizhia, were the first since November 2022. “This must not happen,” he wrote. Nobody can derive military or political benefit from attacks on nuclear facilities. The Russian power plant management reported that a drone exploded over the dome of the sixth reactor. On its Telegram channel, the factory management blamed the Ukrainian army for the attack. But there was no dangerous damage, it said. The radiation in and around the nuclear power plant corresponds to the norm.
According to Russian information, a drone hit the nuclear power plant’s canteen earlier on Sunday. Three employees were injured. The IAEA, however, only had information about one victim. The information provided by the Russian side could not be verified. She has been complaining for days about increasing drone attacks on the plant and blames Ukraine for them.
However, the spokesman for the military intelligence service HUR in Kiev, Andriy Yusov, asserted that Ukraine was not involved in the “military provocations” at the power plant. Such fake attacks are common practice of the Russian occupiers, he told the online portal “Ukrainskaya Pravda”. The nuclear power plant was occupied by Russian troops in spring 2022. The six reactors are idle but need to be cooled.
Zelensky: Kharkiv needs better air defense
In view of constant Russian air strikes on Kharkiv, Zelensky urgently demanded additional anti-aircraft systems from foreign allies. “It is quite obvious that the air defense capabilities we have in Ukraine are not enough – and this is clear to all our partners,” Zelensky said in a video message. He ordered Ukrainian diplomats and negotiators to arrange appropriate supplies with supporting states.
According to the local public prosecutor’s office, two aerial bombs struck Kharkiv again on Sunday afternoon, injuring five people. 13 apartment buildings and other buildings were damaged. Six people were killed and eleven injured on Saturday night.
The energy supply in the city of millions near the border is already struggling; There are fears that Russia wants to make the city uninhabitable through constant shelling. Because of the constant shelling, Ukrainian authorities are considering evacuating two districts in the Kharkiv region right on the Russian border, Governor Oleh Synyehubov told the Rada television channel.
Ukrainian counterattacks on Belgorod region
Opposite Kharkiv on the Russian side is the Belgorod region, which was the target of several waves of Ukrainian drone attacks on Sunday. A girl who was sitting in a car with her family was killed by debris from a downed combat drone, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. The father and three children in the car were injured. The drone crashed over the village of Shagarovka near the regional capital Belgorod.
According to reports, there had already been drone attacks from the Ukrainian side on Saturday and the night of Sunday. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said that twelve drones were intercepted over the Belgorod region and three over the neighboring Bryansk region on Sunday afternoon. With such attacks, the Ukrainian army is trying to prevent Russian units in and around Belgorod from attacking Kharkiv. The extent of the destruction on Russian soil cannot be compared with what Russia is causing in Ukraine.
This will be important on Monday
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov begins a two-day visit to China. In Beijing he wants to talk to his Chinese colleague Wang Yi about the war in Ukraine and other international issues. China is considered a close ally of Russia, but officially emphasizes its neutrality in the conflict. The government in Beijing has itself proposed a peace plan, which the Ukrainian leadership rejects because of its proximity to the Russian position.