Russia storing weapons at the European nuclear power plant – Ukrainian official
Russia is using Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as a base for storing weapons, including “missile systems,” and bombing the environs of Ukraine, an official with the Kyiv nuclear agency said.
The chairman of Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, Energoatom, said on Friday that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was “extremely tense”, with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the plant, reports Agence France-Presse.
“The occupiers are bringing their machinery, including missile systems, from which they are already bombing the other side of the Dnipro River and the territory of Nikopol,” Pedro Kotin said in a televised interview.
The nuclear power plant in southwestern Ukraine has been under Russian control since the first weeks of the invasion of Moscow, although it is still being operated by Ukrainian personnel.
The most recent attack in the Dnipro region left three dead and 15 injured, regional governor Valentin Reznichenko told Telegram.
The threat of airstrikes in most of Ukraine was also raised after strikes were reported in areas far from the front lines. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian goal was to “cause maximum damage to Ukrainian cities.”
Russian forces are crossing the gates of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, in May. Photography: AP
Updated at 09.57 BST
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Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Saturday it had asked German group Siemens to return a turbine it has repaired to Canada to ensure the operation of the Nord Stream pipeline to Europe.
Gazprom began 10 days of scheduled annual pipeline maintenance on Monday, with EU countries, especially Germany, dependent on gas, nervously waiting to see if the taps will reopen.
Moscow had already reduced supply by 60% in recent weeks, blaming the absence of the turbine.
Despite Western sanctions on Russia for its military operation in Ukraine, Canada has agreed to grant what it has described as a limited and revocable time permit for Siemens Canada to allow the machine to return, AFP reports.
But Gazprom says it has received no guarantees to return it.
He said in a statement:
On July 15, Gazprom filed an official request with Siemens to obtain the documents … to allow the export of the gas turbine engine from Portovaya station, a critical facility for the Nord Stream pipeline .
Gazprom relies on the Siemens group to unconditionally fulfill its obligations related to the repair and maintenance of gas turbine engines on which the reliability of Nord Stream pipeline operations and natural gas deliveries to European consumers depend.
Gas link maintenance work was scheduled well in advance, but amid hostile relations between Russia and the West, some fear Gazprom may seize the opportunity to permanently cut off supply through the pipeline.
Updated at 10.44 BST
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters on Saturday that G20 financial officials reached a strong consensus on many issues, including the need to address the worsening food security crisis, despite the differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine that prevented leaders from issuing a joint statement. , reports Associated Press.
Updated at 10.22 BST
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered Russian military units operating in Ukraine to intensify their operations to prevent attacks in eastern Ukraine and other Russian-controlled territories, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. on your website.
He said Shoigu “gave the necessary instructions to further increase the actions of the groups in all operational areas in order to exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime launching massive rocket and artillery attacks on civilian infrastructure and residents of the settlements in the Donbas and other regions, “Reuters. reports.
Updated at 10.21 BST
Two people were killed Saturday in Nikopol when a heavy Russian bombardment hit the southern Ukrainian city, emergency services and the regional governor said.
Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said that Russia fired 53 Grad rockets at the city, reports Reuters.
Updated at 10.20 BST
Emergency personnel work in the middle of collapsed buildings in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine / Reuters People watch a cloud of smoke from a fire following a missile attack on a warehouse in Odessa on July 16. Photo: Oleksandr Gimanov / AFP / Getty Images
Updated at 10.17 BST
The White House says Russian officials have visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice in recent weeks to see attack-capable drones for use in its war in Ukraine.
Joe Biden’s administration released intelligence when it was due to meet on Saturday with leaders from six Arab Gulf countries, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, for a summit on regional missiles. and defense capabilities.
Biden is expected to make an “important statement” at the end of his four-day trip, with the goal of “clearly exposing” his strategy for U.S. engagement in the Middle East and strengthening a new regional axis. unified, largely driven by shared concerns about Iran.
The United States believes Iran showed the drones to Russian officials at Kashan airport on June 8 and July 15.
The administration also released satellite images of the Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones on display and in flight at the aerodrome while a plane of the Russian delegation was on the ground, reports Associated Press.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration has “information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs.” [unmanned aerial vehicles]”.
Added:
We value [that] a Russian official delegation recently received a sample of Iranian UAVs with attack capability.
We are posting these images, captured in June, showing the Iranian UAVs that the Russian government delegation saw that day.
This suggests that there is a Russian interest in acquiring Iranian UAVs capable of attacking.
Sullivan said U.S. officials believe the June visit “was the first time a Russian delegation visited this airfield in order to showcase it.”
In a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian rejected reports of Iranian drone exports to Russia, calling them “unfounded.”
“Such allegations parallel to Biden’s visit to occupied Palestine, or Israel, go in the direction of political intentions and purposes,” Iran’s foreign ministry website quoted Amir as saying. -Abdollahian.
“We oppose any movement that could lead to the continuation and intensification of conflicts.”
President Biden is scheduled to announce on Saturday that the US is committing $ 1 billion in food aid to the Middle East and North Africa amid rising food insecurity caused by the war in Ukraine, a senior official said to journalists.
Updated at 09.33 BST
The G20 will discuss post-pandemic financial stability, cryptocurrencies and climate-related financial risks on Saturday, among other topics, but sources said the two-day meeting in Bali will likely end without a formal statement as the Russian war in Ukraine continues to divide. the group.
Indonesia urged G20 financial leaders to stay focused on their goals for global economic recovery.
Senior Western officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, condemned the war on Friday and criticized Russian officials for the economic consequences it has caused, Reuters reports.
Ukraine’s finance minister Serhiy Marchenko, who virtually addressed the meeting, called for “more severe and selective sanctions” against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Western countries have imposed strict sanctions on Russia and accused it of war crimes in Ukraine, which Moscow has denied.
Other G20 nations, such as China, India and South Africa, have been more muted in their response.
“We are at a helpless time in the world economy with the G20 paralyzed by Putin’s war and the G7 unable to lead global public goods,” said Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center .
Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati had hoped that delegates would address rising commodity prices, worsening food security crisis and the side effects of low-income countries ’capacity to pay the debt.
Updated at 09.45 BST
A Russian attack overnight hit the northeastern Ukrainian city of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv, killing three people, including a 70-year-old woman, and injuring three more, the regional governor said.
The strike damaged a residential block, a school and a shop, and rescuers were passing through the rubble, Governor Oleh Synehubov told Telegram.
Russia denies targeting civilians, Reuters reports.
Updated at 09.22 BST
Jedidajah Otte
Moldova received about 600 million euros in pledges at a donors’ conference on Friday, an official said, to help the country overcome rising inflation and the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
More than 500,000 refugees have fled to Moldova, bordering Ukraine, since the Russian invasion began on February 24th. The situation has put great strain on resources in the poorest country in Europe, which seeks to strengthen ties with the West, the Associated Press reports.
Moldova also depends entirely on Russian gas supply, whose prices have quadrupled last year, and now struggles with soaring inflation.
The donor meeting of the Moldova Support Platform was held on Friday in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, and was co-chaired by Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. French state of development, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou. Delegates from the G7 and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also attended the …