Ukraine accuses Russia of plotting fake Ukrainian bombings at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
About 200 people, relatives, but also writers and journalists, paid tribute to Victoria Amelina on Tuesday, July 4, during a ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kiev (Ukraine). The author, who was touring the country to document war crimes committed by the Russian army, died in a hospital in Dnipro on Saturday after being killed in a June 27 bombing of a restaurant in Kramatorsk that killed 13 people , had been seriously injured. The announcement of his death caused a great uproar in the country. Victoria Amelina, 37, is scheduled to be buried in Lviv on Wednesday. Here you will find further important information from this day.
Ukraine accuses Russia of preparing a “provocation” in Zaporizhia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had warned his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a telephone conversation that the Russians were “preparing” “dangerous provocations” at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which they have occupied since March 2022. to cooperate with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as much as possible,” he added. For his part, the French President reiterated his “full support” for the IAEA director on the safety of the facility. The Ukrainian President repeated his accusation on Twitter in the evening.
Earlier, the Ukrainian General Staff had already accused the Russian army of preparing a “provocation” in the “near future”. He claims that “explosive-like objects were placed on the outer roof of reactors 3 and 4.” “Their designation should not damage the generators, but give the impression of shelling from the Ukrainian side,” the army continued, warning that Moscow “will spread false information about it.”
At the same time, Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, accused Kiev of preparing an “attack” on the nuclear power plant. “Today we received information that I have the authority to disclose. On July 5, in complete darkness at night, the Ukrainian army will try to attack the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia,” he said on Russian television. He assures that Kiev plans to use “long-range precision weapons” and drones.
Russian attacks claim new victims
Two people were killed in the Kherson region by Russian artillery fire, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said in the telegram. At least 40 people, including 12 children, were injured in a Russian attack with an Iskander missile in the Kharkiv region, according to a report published by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In addition, according to local authorities, three people were injured in the Donetsk region and three others in the Chernihiv region. The death toll from the Russian drone strike that hit an apartment building in Sumy in the northeast on Monday rose to three dead and 21 wounded.
Moscow says it fended off Ukrainian drones
Russia has announced it has shot down five drones over the Moscow region, in areas it has only been attacked a few times since the offensive began in Ukraine. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, four drones were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses near the capital, and the fifth was neutralized by “means of electronic warfare” before crashing in the Moscow region. The attack did not cause any casualties or damage, the ministry said. However, operations at Vnukovo Airport, one of Moscow’s three major international airports, were suspended for three hours.
“These attacks would not have been possible for the Kiev regime without the help of the United States and its NATO allies,” the Russian Foreign Ministry accused. Westerners “train drone operators and provide the information needed to commit such crimes,” he added. After the attack, the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, denounced a “terrorist act” on Telegram.
NATO chief reappointed
The Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg, who has been in office since 2014, was reappointed Secretary General of NATO at a meeting of the ambassadors of the 31 member countries of the alliance. He will remain in office until October 1, 2024. As far as names for his successor were in circulation, no personality had finally declared himself a candidate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is a NATO candidate, “thanked Jens Stoltenberg for his personal efforts to support Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” he said in a telephone interview. The Alliance will meet at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12.