“Every Russian soldier who either shoots at the plant or shoots using the plant as cover must understand that he is becoming a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our army,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on video. . on Saturday night. Zelensky, who did not elaborate, repeated allegations that Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail. Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over multiple bombing incidents at the Zaporizhia facility in southern Ukraine. Russian troops occupied the station early in the war. The plant dominates the southern bank of a huge reservoir on the Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under heavy shelling from the Russian side. Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, accused Russia of hitting the part of the nuclear plant that generates the energy that powers southern Ukraine. “The goal is to disconnect us from the [plant] and blame the Ukrainian army for it,” Podolyak tweeted. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is seeking to inspect the plant, has warned of nuclear disaster unless the fighting stops. Nuclear experts fear the fighting could damage the plant’s spent fuel tanks or reactors. UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhia facility, which is still managed by Ukrainian technicians. Russia rejected this appeal. Kyiv has said for weeks that it is planning a counteroffensive to retake Zaporizhzhia and neighboring Kherson provinces, the largest swath of territory seized by Russia after its February 24 invasion and still in Russian hands. Russian and Ukrainian forces earlier fought for control of Chernobyl, the still-radioactive site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, also raising fears of a catastrophe. Russia’s invasion has pushed Moscow-Washington relations to a low point, with Russia warning it may sever ties. On Saturday, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official, Alexander Darchiev, warned that any seizure of Russian assets by the United States would completely destroy bilateral relations, Russian news agency Tass reported. “We are warning the Americans about the damaging consequences of such actions that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which is neither in our interest nor in our own interest,” said Dartsyev, head of the ministry’s North American division. It was not clear which assets he was referring to. Darchiev said that US influence in Ukraine has grown to the extent that “the Americans are becoming more and more a direct part of the conflict.” The US and Europe, wary of being dragged directly into war, have refused Ukraine’s request to establish a no-fly zone to help protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes. Meanwhile, two more ships carrying grain left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Saturday, Turkey’s defense ministry said, bringing to 16 the number of ships to depart under a U.N.-brokered deal aimed in part at in alleviating the global food crisis. Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry announced on Saturday that 16 ships carrying 450,000 tons of agricultural products had departed from Ukrainian seaports since early August under the agreement, which ensured safe passage for the ships. The deal, signed by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN in July amid warnings of possible famine outbreaks, allowed grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to resume after a five-month stalemate due to war. Zelensky said that in less than two weeks, Ukraine had managed to export the same amount of grain from three ports as it had done by road for all of July. “This has already made it possible to reduce the severity of the food crisis,” he said on Saturday. Ukraine hopes to increase its seaborne exports to over 3 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products per month in the near future. Ukraine and Russia are major grain exporters. The blockade of Ukrainian ports has trapped tens of millions of tonnes of grain in the country, raising fears of severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world.
