The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has visited the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine for the second time amid an escalation of fighting around him. Rafael Mariano Grossi was shown around the plant by Russian occupying forces and officials and told reporters, “It is evident that military activities are increasing throughout this region, so all possible measures and precautions should be taken to ensure that the plant is not attacked.”
Russia has stopped informing the US about its nuclear activities, including missile test launches. After Moscow suspended its participation in the New Start arms control treaty last month, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. The White House said Tuesday the US had told Russia it would stop sharing some data on its nuclear forces after Moscow refused.
Russia began exercises with the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand soldiers. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday. Vladimir Putin has set a goal of making the Yars missile system, which replaced the Topol system, part of Russia’s “invincible weapons” and the mainstay of the ground-based component of its nuclear arsenal.
The federal government has agreed to spend a further 12 billion euros on military support. The budget committee of the Bundestag gave the green light on Wednesday to spend around eight billion euros directly on the purchase of weapons and equipment for Ukraine. The other 4 billion euros go to the Bundeswehr to replenish stocks. Spain will send six Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine after Easter, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said.
An explosion was reported near a Russian military airfield in Crimea. the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, according to footage shared on social media. Russia-appointed head of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov told Telegram that “a UAV [drone] was shot down in the Simferopol region” and that there were “no casualties or damage”.
Ukrainian forces reportedly shelled the Russian-controlled Ukrainian town of Melitopol south of the Zaporizhia region. and Russian media reported Wednesday that the city’s power supply was cut off as a result. Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, said via messaging app Telegram that there had been multiple blasts.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, said the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut “virtually destroyed” the Ukrainian army. but his armed forces were also “severely damaged”. The Russian-installed leader in the region said Russian forces advanced despite stiff resistance in Bakhmut and almost took full control of a metal factory there.
Russian forces attempting to encircle the city of Avdiivka in recent days have made only marginal gains, despite heavy losses in armored vehicles. Including a tank regiment, said the British Ministry of Defense.
Vladimir Putin acknowledged that sanctions against Russia could have “negative” consequences for the economy however, insisted that Moscow is adjusting to the penalties and that unemployment “remains at an all-time low”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to visit Ukraine. In an interview with the Associated Press, Zelenskiy said: “We are ready to see him here. I want to speak to him.”
Zelenskyi said Ukraine needs 20 Patriot batteries to protect itself from Russian missiles, and even that may not be enough, “since no country in the world has been attacked with so many ballistic missiles”. He added that a European nation sent a different air defense system to Ukraine, but it didn’t work and they “kept changing it over and over”. He did not name the country.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk has urged Russians not to adopt children they say have been “stolen” from their country during the war and deported to Russia. Vereshchuk, writing to Telegram, said orphans were “stolen in Ukraine” and allegedly put up for adoption in Russia.
Poland has asked the EU to limit the amount of Ukrainian grain entering the bloc’s market. said his Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki amid farmers’ anger over the impact of imports on Polish grain prices.
The Ministry of Sports of Ukraine has condemned what it says was a partial change of position by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals in international competitions. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the IOC’s decision as “shameful”.