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. “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 military,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an afternoon speech of. on Saturday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Zelensky, who did not elaborate, repeated allegations that Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail. 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. read more The adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podolyak, accused Russia of “hitting the part of the nuclear plant where the energy that supplies the south of Ukraine is produced.” “The goal is to disconnect us from (the plant) and blame the Ukrainian military 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. 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.
THE DIPLOMATIC rift IS DEEPENING
Russia’s invasion, which it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “neutralize” its smaller neighbor, has pushed Moscow-Washington relations to a low point, with Russia warning it may cut ties. The United States has led Ukraine’s Western allies in supplying it with weapons to defend itself and sanctions against Moscow. A senior Russian official on Friday said that Moscow had told Washington that if the US Senate passed a law designating Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, diplomatic relations would be severely damaged and could even be severed. On Saturday, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official warned that any seizure of Russian assets by the United States would completely destroy bilateral relations, TASS reported. “We are warning the Americans about the damaging consequences of such actions that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which is neither in their interest nor in ours,” said Alexander Dartsyev, head of the ministry’s North American department. 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 United States 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.
UKRAINE SHIP SIKIRUS
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 UN-brokered deal aimed in part at easing of 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 grains in the country, raising fears of severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in parts of the world. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Natalia Zinets in the Kyiv and Reuters bureaus. Written by Michael Perry. Edited by William Mallard Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
