Finance
The fate of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant placed uncomfortably on the front lines between Russian invaders and Ukrainian defenders remained the focus of the world’s attention.
Concerns about the state of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant remained high. Both sides have stated that the other side’s attacks pose a threat to a nuclear disaster. Both deny taking action against the facility, and neither side’s information can be verified immediately, according to the dpa news agency.
On Sunday, Russian forces occupying the plant said they had to shoot down an armed drone sent by the Ukrainians.
According to Russian media reports, it was shot down and crashed into a safety cover spanning the reactor. The explosives it was transporting were detonated safely. The report could not be independently confirmed right away.
According to Russia, the drone was on its way to attack a spent fuel rod storage area.
Several projectiles were also fired at the nearby city of Enerhodar, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other.
The occupying Russian administration’s Vladimir Rogov said seven people were injured and accused Ukraine of attempting to prevent the International Atomic Energy Agency from visiting (IAEA).
Dmytro Orlov, the Ukrainian mayor of Enerhodar who has fled the area, said it was a provocation and that Russian troops were behind it.
Earlier in the day, one shell was fired near reactor number six, and another at a pumping station that provides cooling, according to Moscow.
Authorities in Kiev and Moscow said on Sunday that there has been no increase in radiation levels at the plant as a result of the recent shelling.
Both sides have been accusing each other of shelling the sprawling complex for weeks, raising the specter of disaster at Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
According to Ukrainian state nuclear operator Enerhoatom, two units of the nuclear plant were temporarily disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid on Thursday following an emergency shutdown.
The Russian military also confirmed an attack using “high-precision weapons” on the city of Zaporizhzhya, which is located across the Dnipro River.
According to the ministry, a hall where Ukrainian air force helicopters were repaired was hit.
According to the Ukrainian army’s evening report, Russian tanks fired on dozens of Ukrainian communities along the 2,000-kilometer front.
According to them, new Russian offensives have been fought off in the east, including in the villages of Vesela Dolyna and Bakhmut, which have been the sites of weeks-long standoffs.
Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine attempted a push north-west of Donetsk into the village of Pervomaiske, which the Ukrainian military said was repulsed, though it also said it had lost control of the Donetsk suburb of Pisky.
The mayor of Kharkiv in the north east said the city was hit by two missiles, and Rivne in the north also reported being hit. A military site was struck, according to the Sarny district.
In other news, the Ukrainian mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol announced on Telegram that a Russian military base in the city’s south-east had been destroyed.
Russian officials appear to be laying the groundwork for the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory. On Sunday, Kremlin official Sergei Kiriyenko cited recent polls showing strong support for joining Russia. He said that in Donetsk and Luhansk, between 91% and 92% were in favor, and 75-77 percent in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya.
Ukraine retains control over large portions of Donetsk and has hinted at a counteroffensive in Kherson.
There is also considerable skepticism about the data’s veracity. Medusa, an online news website, recently reported that its polls revealed an even split of roughly 30% for and 30% against joining Russia, with the remainder expressing no opinion.
Source:OCN
