VLADIMIR Putin's troops could cause a major nuclear emergency if Europe's largest nuclear power station is hit by Russia, officials say.
The head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom has said the despot's advances could result in a "catastrophic" disaster similar to Chernobyl.
Petro Kotin called on Monday for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to be made a military-free zone, warning of the risk of a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster after the site was hit by shelling.
He called for a team of peacekeepers to be deployed at the sitein comments on television after Ukraine and Russia accused each of shelling the nuclear power plant.
Mr Kotin said on television: “The decision that we demand from the world community and all our partners… is to withdraw the invaders from the territory of the station and create a demilitarized zone on the territory of the station.”
“If one container of spent nuclear fuel is broken, it will be a local accident in the plant and the surrounding area,” the top nuclear official said.
He added: “If there are two or three containers, it will be much larger. It is impossible to assess the scale of this catastrophe.”
Read our Ukraine-Russia blog below for the latest updates…
- Louis Allwood
Zelensky presented soldier with medal to mark National Air Force Day
UKRAINIAN President Zelensky presented medals to a soldier as he marked the nation’s National Air Force Day on Sunday.
The heroic leader, 44, presented the “Golden Star” award to soldiers fighting Russia as the war in Ukraine passed six months as he declared them Heroes of Ukraine – the nation’s highest honour.
He also presented medals in war-torn Kyiv to the families of fallen soldiers – holding a moment of silence in their honour.
The embattled leader said: “Ukrainian pilots, anti-aircraft fighters and all those who defend our airspace have turned out to be much more professional, braver and more motivated”.
- Louis Allwood
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant 'should be made a military-free zone'
The head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom called on Monday for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to be made a military-free zone.
They have warned of the risk of a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster after the site was hit by shelling.
U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the risk of nuclear confrontation had returned after decades.
- Louis Allwood
Wizz Air to resume flights from UAE to Russia
European budget airline Wizz Air will resume flights from Abu Dhabi to Moscow from October, it said on Thursday.
The decision comes more than five months after the carrier suspended all services to Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February.
The airline's Abu Dhabi-based joint venture, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, will operate the daily flight from October 3.
- Louis Allwood
Turkey strengthens ties with Russia
The Financial Times has reported that leaders across Europe are fearful of Russia’s increasing ties with Turkey.
According to the publication, one EU official said: “I would not rule out any negative actions [if] Turkey gets too close to Russia.”
This comes as Russia and Turkey agreed to expand cooperation on trade and energy.
- Louis Allwood
Ukraine calls for de-militarisation of occupied nuclear plant
Kyiv on Monday called for the establishment of a demilitarised zone around a nuclear power station in east Ukraine where recent fighting with Russian forces has raised fears of a nuclear accident.
Zaporizhzhia — Europe's largest atomic power complex — was occupied by Russia early in its invasion.
In recent days, it has been the scene of strikes that have damaged several structures, forcing the shutdown of a reactor.
"What needs to be done is to remove occupying forces from the station and to create a de-militarised zone on the territory of the station," said Petro Kotin, president of Ukraine's nuclear energy company, Energoatom.
"The fact that they are there is the greatest danger going forwards, towards an accident with radiation or even to a nuclear catastrophe," he added in a statement distributed by the agency.
Recent fighting at the plant has prompted the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to warn of "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster".
Kotin said in the statement that Russia had deployed some 500 Russian troops and 50 pieces of military hardware at Zaporizhzhia and that the situation at the plant marked a "deterioration" over recent days.
"That there should be a peacekeeping mission including experts from the IAEA and other security organisations. Their presence and initially giving control to them and then to the Ukrainian side would have solved this problem," he added.
- Louis Allwood
Kremlin claims West should pressure Ukraine to stop shelling power plant
The Kremlin said on Monday that Western countries with influence over Ukraine should push Kyiv to stop shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for strikes on Europe's largest nuclear power station, which is controlled by Russian forces.
- Louis Allwood
Russia claims it has shot down 19 HIMARS missiles – reports
Russia's defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had shot down 19 US-made HIMARS missiles across eastern and southern Ukraine.
The Kremlin also claims it destroyed HIMARS vehicles near the Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk.
However it has not been possible to immediately verify the reports.
- Louis Allwood
Harry’s call with Ukrainian mother revealed after Russian kidnap NIGHTMARE
Prince Harry spoke “strongly and sincerely” about Ukraine to a woman from Mariupol and helped her continue to fight.
Yulia Paievska, 53, said she “cried from emotions” when the Duke of Sussex’s call came in, only a few days after she was released from three-month captivity.
Paievska was captured and tortured by Russian troops in March when she rushed to assist people trapped at a shelled Ukrainian theatre, as she was volunteering as a paramedic.
She told the Telegraph of her chat with Prince Harry: “He simply inspired me to continue to fight.”
- Louis Allwood
Kremlin accuses Kyiv of nuclear power plant strike
The Kremlin on Monday accused Ukrainian forces of firing on the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant, warning against potential "catastrophic consequences" for Europe.
"The shelling of the territory of the nuclear plant by the Ukrainian armed forces is a potentially extremely dangerous activity… fraught with catastrophic consequences for a vast area, including the territory of Europe," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
- Louis Allwood
Ukraine says it hit Russian troop bases in overnight strikes
Ukraine conducted long-range strikes on Russian troop bases and two key bridges across the Dnipro river overnight, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
The strikes hit the only two crossings Russia has to the pocket of southern Ukrainian territory it has occupied on the western bank of the vast Dnipro river, said Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command.
"The results (of the strikes) are rather respectable, hits on the Antonivskyi and Kakhovskyi bridges," she said on television.
Ukrainian HIMARS strikes also hit multiple military bases in Ukraine's Russian-occupied southern city of Melitopol in the early hours, killing troops and destroying hardware, the exiled mayor said.
"According to preliminary estimates, a significant amount of military equipment was destroyed," Mayor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram.
Reuters could not immediately verify the officials' battlefield accounts.
- Louis Allwood
Six Russian sympathisers detained by Ukrainian police
Six people "waiting for the Russian peace" have been detained in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, according to local police.
Oleksiy Biloshitskyi said: "Disruption and death are what the Russians bring. However, for some, the grief that the Russian measure carries is not enough."
He added: "These monsters admire and wait for him… Yes, we also meet such people on our Ukrainian land."
- Louis Allwood
Kremlin: 'No basis' for meeting between Zelensky & Putin
The Kremlin has said there is no basis for a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders at present.
In response to a question about Turkish proposals to broker peace talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky could meet only after negotiators from both sides had "done their homework".
Negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv have been stalled for months, with each side blaming the other for a lack of progress.
- Louis Allwood
U.S. seeks to seize $90 million plane owned by Russian oligarch
A judge has authorized U.S. prosecutors to seize a $90 million Airbus plane owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrei Skoch, federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
Skoch, a member of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, was initially sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018 for alleged ties to Russian organized criminal groups.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued further sanctions against Skoch in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- Louis Allwood
Europe fears as Turkey strengthens ties with Russia
The Financial Times has reported that leaders across Europe are fearful of Russia’s increasing ties with Turkey.
According to the publication, one EU official said: “I would not rule out any negative actions [if] Turkey gets too close to Russia.”
This comes as Russia and Turkey agreed to expand cooperation on trade and energy.
- Louis Allwood
Petro Kotin warns of 'Chernobyl style catastrophe'
The head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom has said that we could see a "catastrophic" disaster similar to Chernobyl if Europe's largest nuclear power station is hit by Russia.
Petro Kotin called on Monday for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to be made a military-free zone, warning of the risk of a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster after the site was hit by shelling.
He called for a team of peacekeepers to be deployed at the sitein comments on television after Ukraine and Russia accused each of shelling the nuclear power plant.
Petro Kotin said on television: "The decision that we demand from the world community and all our partners… is to withdraw the invaders from the territory of the station and create a demilitarized zone on the territory of the station."
"If one container of spent nuclear fuel is broken, it will be a local accident in the plant and the surrounding area," the top nuclear official said.
He added: "If there are two or three containers, it will be much larger. It is impossible to assess the scale of this catastrophe."
- Louis Allwood
Russia ‘threatening to blow up nuke plant with explosives’
Russia has threatened to blow up Europe's largest nuclear power plant and planted explosives on the site, Ukraine has claimed.
State-run nuclear agency Energoatom accused Vladimir Putin's forces of being "ready to blow up" the atomic plant in Zaporizhzhia (ZNPP).
Russia and Ukraine have both accused the other of shelling around the plant in recent days and damaging radiation sensors.
The fears of a nuclear catastrophe similar to Chernobyl are looming over the war-torn country with accusations of "nuclear blackmail".
It has been long feared that Russia wants to use ZNPP – the biggest nuke plant in Europe – as strategic leverage, a "nuclear shield", and to control part of the energy to southern Ukraine.
Energoatom has now outright accused Russia of "declaring their readiness to blow up" Zaporizhzhia.
The claim – which has not been independently verified – would be a significant escalation in the area, with the situation already being branded "suicidal" and "out of control".
Blowing up the nuclear power plant could cause a nuclear disaster across Ukraine, southern Russia and that could reach into Europe.
"If [ZNPP] blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl," Ukraine foreign minister warned in April.
- Louis Allwood
Putin's forces are gathering in south Ukraine for a "new assault"
BRITISH intelligence chiefs have warned Putin's forces are gathering in south Ukraine for a "new assault" on the war-torn nation.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) claims Putin's troops are “almost certainly” amassing in anticipation of a Ukrainian counter-offensive or for a possible fresh attack as part of his invasion of the country.
It warned the conflict “is about to enter a new phase” in which the fighting would shift west and south to a 350-kilometre front line that extends from near the city of Zaporizhzhia to Russian-occupied Kherson.
Convoys of Russian military trucks & tanks were spotted moving away from the Donbas region, which has been the recent focus of Russia’s invasion.
The MoD said military equipment was “reported to be moving from Russian-occupied Melitopol, Berdiansk, Mariupol and from mainland Russia via the Kerch Bridge into Crimea”.
- Louis Allwood
MoD release latest intelligence map
The UK's Ministry of Defence have released their latest intelligence update.
The map below shows the latest situation down on the ground in Ukraine.
- Louis Allwood
MoD release footage of Ukrainian soldiers in training
The UK's Ministry of Defence have shared a video showing Ukrainian soldiers undergoing UK-led military programmes.
The soldiers have been training for combat on the front line and were classed as civilians less than two weeks ago.
- Louis Allwood
Ukraine calls for international mission
Staff at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex are "working under the barrels of Russian guns", Ukraine's ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
He has called for an international mission to the plant this month.
Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk said Russian forces want to cause electricity blackouts in southern Ukraine by shelling the Zaporizhzhia complex, adding that damage to the facility from Russian attacks means any radiation could not be detected.
- Louis Allwood
Germany stands by Russia sanctions government spokesperson says
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not consider support for Russia sanctions to be waning even with energy bills expected to surge further, a government spokesperson said on Monday.
"We face difficult months ahead," the spokesperson said, adding "but it is clear that we stand firmly on the side of Ukraine and we stand behind the sanctions that we agreed together with the European Union and the international community".
- Louis Allwood
Zelensky presented soldier with medal to mark National Air Force Day
UKRAINIAN President Zelensky presented medals to a soldier as he marked the nation’s National Air Force Day on Sunday.
The heroic leader, 44, presented the “Golden Star” award to soldiers fighting Russia as the war in Ukraine passed six months as he declared them Heroes of Ukraine – the nation’s highest honour.
He also presented medals in war-torn Kyiv to the families of fallen soldiers – holding a moment of silence in their honour.
The embattled leader said: “Ukrainian pilots, anti-aircraft fighters and all those who defend our airspace have turned out to be much more professional, braver and more motivated”.
- Louis Allwood
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant 'should be made a military-free zone'
The head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom called on Monday for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to be made a military-free zone.
They have warned of the risk of a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster after the site was hit by shelling.
U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the risk of nuclear confrontation had returned after decades.
- Louis Allwood
Wizz Air to resume flights from UAE to Russia
European budget airline Wizz Air will resume flights from Abu Dhabi to Moscow from October, it said on Thursday.
The decision comes more than five months after the carrier suspended all services to Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February.
The airline's Abu Dhabi-based joint venture, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, will operate the daily flight from October 3.
- Joseph Gamp
Turkey strengthens ties with Russia
The Financial Times has reported that leaders across Europe are fearful of Russia’s increasing ties with Turkey.
According to the publication, one EU official said: “I would not rule out any negative actions [if] Turkey gets too close to Russia.”
This comes as Russia and Turkey agreed to expand cooperation on trade and energy.
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