- US says Russia uses ‘nuclear shield’
- The first grain ship left Ukraine
- Ukraine says 22,000 Russian troops are ready to advance south
- Foreign fighters are entering Luhansk, the governor said
- Ukraine says it has recaptured 50 towns in Kherson
UNITED NATIONS/KYIV, Aug 2 (Reuters) – The United States has accused Russia of using Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant as a “nuclear shield” by deploying troops there, preventing Ukrainian forces from returning fire and risking a catastrophic nuclear accident.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States was “deeply concerned” that the Zaporozhye plant, which Russia was accused of firing dangerously close to in March, was now a Russian military base used to fire on nearby Ukrainian forces.
“Of course, the Ukrainians cannot fire back to prevent a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant,” Blinken told reporters after talks on nuclear non-proliferation at the United Nations in New York on Monday. Read more
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I am registering
Russia’s actions went beyond using a “human shield,” Blinken said, calling it a “nuclear shield.”
During the talks in New York, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytskyi said “robust joint action is needed to prevent a nuclear catastrophe” and called on the international community to “close the skies” over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants with air defense systems .
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 sparked Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, killing thousands, displacing millions and leaving large parts of Ukraine in ruins.
The war also triggered a global food crisis, with Russia and Ukraine producing about a third of the world’s wheat, while Western sanctions against Russia, a major energy supplier to Europe, triggered a global energy crisis.
FIRST GRAIN SHIP
The first ship to carry Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea since Russia’s invasion five months ago left the port of Odessa for Lebanon on Monday under a safe passage agreement.
The sailing became possible after Turkey and the United Nations struck a deal on grain and fertilizer exports between Russia and Ukraine last month, a rare diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that has turned into a protracted war of attrition.
The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni will head to the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, after passing through Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait, connecting the Black Sea, which is dominated by the Russian Navy, to the Mediterranean Sea. It carries 26,527 tons of corn.
But there are still hurdles to overcome before millions of tons of Ukrainian grain can leave its Black Sea ports, including clearing sea mines and creating a framework for vessels to safely enter the conflict zone and collect cargo. Read more
The United Nations has warned of the risk of multiple famines this year because of the war in Ukraine.
Known as the granary of Europe, Ukraine hopes to export 20 million tonnes of grain stored in silos and 40 million tonnes of the currently harvested crop, initially from Odessa and nearby Pivdenny and Chernomorsk, to help clear silos for the new harvest.
Russia called Razoni’s departure “very positive” news but denied responsibility for the food crisis, saying Western sanctions had slowed its exports and accusing Ukraine of planting underwater mines at the entrance to its ports.
Russia and Ukraine blame each other for placing the mines that are now floating in the Black Sea.
Signaling a deepening energy dispute between Russia and Europe, Russia on Monday said it could do little to help urgently repair the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, its main gas pipeline to Europe, after further drops in production and Gazprom’s exports. Read more
Gas from Russia met about 40% of European needs before Russia sent troops to Ukraine. Russia cut gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 to just 20 percent of capacity last week, saying a turbine sent to Canada for maintenance had not been returned and other equipment needed repairs.
THE RUSSIAN PROGRESS
Russia invaded Ukraine in what it called a “special operation” to demilitarize its neighbor. Ukraine and Western nations dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.
After failing to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the war, Russia is now seeking to capture the eastern Donbas region, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk, partially occupied by Russian-backed separatists before the invasion, and to seize more of the south now that it has annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych told media that 22,000 Russian troops were preparing to advance on the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Mykolaiv, where “sufficiently large” Ukrainian forces were waiting.
In Kherson Oblast, which is mostly under Russian control, Ukrainian troops have liberated about 50 towns, said Yury Sobolevsky, deputy chairman of the ousted Kherson Oblast Council.
“Russian troops in the Kherson region are suffering significant losses,” Sobolevsky wrote on Telegram.
Reuters was unable to verify the report from the battlefield.
Sergey Gaidai, governor of Luhansk region, which is almost entirely under Russian control, said foreign fighters were arriving to help Russian forces.
“We noticed that more and more private military companies are coming to the area – the Wagner group,” Gaidai told Ukrainian television, adding that these irregular forces were motivated by “money and looting.”
Russian private military firm Wagner may have been given responsibility for front-line sectors in eastern Ukraine, possibly as Russia faces a shortage of infantry, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said last week.
Gaidai said the guerrillas were destroying infrastructure, including gas and water networks, in devastated towns in Luhansk to slow down Russian forces.
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I am registering
Reports from Reuters bureaus; Written by Michael Perry; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Add Comment