Ukraine war: Russian strikes near Zaporizhzhia plant kill 14; G7 tells Moscow return nuclear station to Kyiv
- Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of carrying out rocket strikes that killed 14 civilians in areas near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
- The plant is Europe ’s largest and was shelled several times and partially damaged last weekend. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attacks
.png?itok=arIb17P0)
Overnight strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine killed 13 people and injured 11, with five reported to be in a serious condition, regional Governor Valentin Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.
Most of the casualties were in the town of Marganets, just across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.
“It was a terrible night,” Reznichenko said, urging residents to shelter when they hear air raid sirens.
“I am asking and begging you … Don’t let the Russians kill you,” he wrote.
US accuses Russia of using Ukraine power plant as ‘nuclear shield’
Another woman died after Russian missiles slammed into a village in the Zaporizhzhia region on Wednesday morning, local Governor Oleksandr Starukh wrote on Telegram.
Regional council head Mykola Lukashuk said the strikes had hit a local power line, leaving thousands of people without electricity.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of recent shelling around the Zaporizhzhia plant, which has six reactors.
The G7 condemned Russia’s occupation and called on Moscow to immediately hand back full control of the plant.
Ukrainian staff operating the plant must be able to work “without threats or pressure” and Russia’s control of the plant “endangers the region,” the G7 foreign ministers said in a statement.
The UN nuclear safety watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a statement that its Director General Rafael Grossi would brief the Security Council meeting “about the nuclear safety and security situation” at the plant as well as his “efforts to agree and lead an IAEA expert mission to the site as soon as possible”.
The strikes came a day after major blasts at the Saki airfield, a key military base on the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.
Moscow insisted that the explosions were caused by detonating ammunition rather than Ukrainian fire, and Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.
Fighting also ground on in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are gradually advancing.
Strikes on the city of Bakhmut killed at least six people and injured three others, regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram, adding that 12 residential buildings were damaged.
The city of Soledar was under constant shelling, Agence France-Presse reporters saw, as Russian troops attempted to drive out Ukrainian forces and seize a foothold towards Bakhmut.
03:04
Ukraine says Russia has taken control of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
The echoes of cluster bombs and artillery bounced off apartment buildings with their windows shattered, while roads were cratered and shops boarded up or destroyed.
The city was shrouded with black and white smoke arising from artillery and air strikes.
Some of those who remain now live underground in cellars ill-suited as bomb shelters.
“Most have left. It’s very scary. There is a lot of shooting,” said 62-year-old Svitlana Klymenko.
“I just want to leave to grow old in a normal way, die a normal death, not be killed by a missile.”
Staff at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘under Russian orders’
The war has severely hampered grain supply from Ukraine, leading to an international food crisis as it is one of the world’s biggest producers.
The first exports of wheat should start next week under the agreement, top UN official Frederick Kenney said on Wednesday.
The first grain shipment to leave on the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel Razoni departed the Ukrainian port of Odesa on August 1 and had been expected to dock in the Lebanese port of Tripoli at the weekend.
But the Ukrainian embassy said a new buyer for the shipment was being sought after the original Lebanese buyer cancelled the order.
Staff at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘under Russian orders’
Marine traffic sites showed the Razoni docked in Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Mersin, following reports a new buyer had been found for its cargo.
Western countries have meanwhile imposed increasingly stringent sanctions on Moscow, raising fears that Russia may cut off gas supplies.
EU countries have started putting into place different measures to save energy, with air conditioning curbs coming into force in Spain on Wednesday and Vienna dimming street lighting.
A total EU ban on imports of Russian coal was due to come into force overnight.
Additional reporting by dpa
