- Russians threatening Zaporizhzhia are ‘special targets’
- The G7 nations are asking Moscow to withdraw troops from the plant
- Fear of nuclear catastrophe if the fighting is not stopped
- Russia warns it may cut bilateral relations with the United States
- More grain ships leave Ukraine
KYIV, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Ukraine is targeting Russian soldiers who fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant or use it as a base for firing, as G7 nations fear a nuclear catastrophe , they asked Moscow to withdraw its forces from the plant. .
Ukraine and Russia have traded charges over multiple bombing incidents at the Zaporizhzhia facility in southern Ukraine. Russian troops captured the station early in the war.
“Every Russian soldier who shoots at the plant, or shoots using the plant as cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, for our special services, for our military President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an evening speech. on Saturday.
Sign up now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Zelenskiy, who gave no details, repeated claims that Russia was using the plant as nuclear blackmail.
The plant dominates the southern bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro River. The Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have been subjected to intense bombardment from the Russian side. Read more
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak accused Russia of “impacting the part of the nuclear power plant where the energy that feeds southern Ukraine is generated.”
“The goal is to disconnect us from the (plant) and blame it on the Ukrainian army,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is looking to inspect the plant, has warned of a nuclear disaster if the fighting is not stopped. Nuclear experts fear the fight could damage the plant’s spent fuel pools or reactors.
The head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia facility, which is still run by Ukrainian technicians.
Kyiv has said for weeks that it is planning a counteroffensive to retake Zaporizhzhia and neighboring Kherson provinces, most of the territory Russia seized after the February 24 invasion and still in Russian hands.
Russian and Ukrainian forces previously battled for control of Chornobyl, the still-radioactive site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, also raising fears of disaster.
THE DIPLOMATIC rift is deepening
Russia’s invasion, which it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “de-Zazify” its smaller neighbor, has brought Moscow-Washington relations to a low point, with Russia warning it may sever ties.
The United States has led Ukraine’s Western allies in providing self-defense weapons and punitive sanctions against Moscow.
A senior Russian official said on Friday that Moscow had told Washington that if the US Senate passed a bill designating Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, diplomatic relations would be badly damaged and could even be broken.
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 warn the Americans of the harmful consequences of these actions that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which is not in their interest or ours,” said Alexander Darchiev, head of the ministry’s American department. It was not clear what assets he was referring to.
Darchiev said that the influence of the United States in Ukraine had increased to the point that “the Americans are becoming more and more directly involved in the conflict.”
The United States and Europe, wary of being dragged directly into war, have rejected Ukraine’s request to establish a no-fly zone to help protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes.
UKRAINE GRAIN VESSELS
Two more ships carrying grain left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Saturday, Turkey’s defense ministry said, bringing the number of ships to 16 under a UN deal aimed in part at alleviate a global food crisis.
Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said on Saturday that 16 ships carrying 450,000 tonnes of agricultural products had left Ukraine’s seaports since early August under the agreement, which guarantees safe passage for 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 being stalled for five months in cause of war
Zelenskiy said that in less than two weeks, Ukraine had managed to export the same amount of grain from three ports as it had exported by road in 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 more than 3 million tons of grain and other agricultural products per month in the near future.
Ukraine and Russia are the main exporters of cereals. The blockade of Ukraine’s ports has trapped tens of millions of grains in the country, sparking fears of severe food shortages and even outbreaks of famine in some parts of the world. Read more
Sign up now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv and Reuters bureaus; Written by Michael Perry; Edited by William Mallard
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.