Guterres: “Demilitarize the Zaporizhia region”. Erdogan: “No to the new Chernobyl. We on the side of Kyiv, ready for talks”. NATO calls for an urgent inspection by the IAEA. Moscow appoints a new commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet after attacks on bases in Crimea.
Important points
07:46 Zaporizhia, video shows Russian vehicles in the turbine hall
03:11 President of Indonesia: “Xi and Putin at the G20 summit in Bali”
09:43
Kyiv, 44,700 Russian soldiers killed in war
Some 44,700 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine since Russia launched its military aggression on February 24. According to the daily bulletin of the Kiev Defense Ministry, about 400 soldiers sent from Moscow lost their lives in the last 24 hours alone. On the other hand, 1,899 tanks and 1,016 artillery systems were destroyed in the conflict.
08:16
Tensions in Crimea, 4 explosions at Belbek airbase
Tensions remain high in the Crimean peninsula, where four blasts occurred at the Belbek airbase north of Sebastianopolis. This was announced by the pro-Russian governor of Sevastopol. Mikhail Razvozhayev, and stated that “there is no harm. No one was hurt.” Air defenses were also activated near Kerch, the city on the outskirts of Crimea which lies on a strategically important supply route and which many in Ukraine would have preferred to destroy. Local media reported that a Ukrainian drone had been shot down.
07:49
New Russian attack on Kharkiv
New Russian attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, where Kyivskyi, Osnovyanskyi and Nemyshlianskyi districts were hit around 5.44 this morning, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov. One home was damaged and another caught fire. victims are feared.
The city has been hit three times in the past three days. Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov said at least 17 people were killed and 42 wounded in two separate Russian attacks on the city.
07:46
Zaporizhia, video shows Russian vehicles in the turbine hall
Fears surrounding the situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remain high after days of accusations being exchanged between Russia and Ukraine and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres yesterday calling for the area to be demilitarized. According to a video by CNN, Russian military vehicles drove into a turbine hall connected to a nuclear reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Through geolocation, CNN confirmed the authenticity of the video, although it’s not clear when it will go back.
The footage shows one of the six turbine halls on the west side of the nuclear power plant, located in the south-eastern city of Enerhodar in southern Ukraine. Each turbine room is connected to another, which houses a nuclear reactor. The vehicles, which appear to be regular Russian trucks in the images, at least one of which was marked “Z”, were about 130 meters from the reactor.
05:05
Russian Embassy, ”US lies about Zaporizhia”
Regarding the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the United States “does not despise the lies in rampant attempts to denigrate Russia,” the Russian embassy in Washington said, according to Tass agency reports.
For Russian diplomats, “among Washington’s laudatory rhetoric, the Kiev regime continues to systematically hit the Zaporizhia power plant with rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles.” The aim is to “create an exclusion zone of up to 30 km and to accuse Russia of nuclear terrorism,” the Russian embassy said.
“The silence of these facts is unacceptable and only promotes impunity in Kiev,” stressed the Russian embassy.
“We warn that this irresponsible rhetoric by the United States – the statement concludes – is pushing the Ukrainian armed forces to implement criminal schemes that could lead to consequences that Europe will face for many decades to come.” The Russian embassy’s stance comes after the US State Department accused Moscow of disdaining nuclear safety.
05:04
Night attack on Mykolayiv, powerful explosions
During the night the Russians again attacked the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. This is what Mayor Oleksandr Sienkovych said, as reported by Ukrinform.
The air raid alert went off just after 4:00 a.m. local time and loud explosions were heard soon after. Mykolayiv was also the subject of an attack yesterday, resulting in one dead and two wounded.
03:13
US, Russia despises nuclear safety
The United States is aware of “reports that the Russian military abused personnel at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.” The US State Department spokesman said: Ned price, which condemned “Russia’s ruthless contempt for security and nuclear power”. The State Department reiterated the need to guarantee officials from the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, access to the facility as soon as possible.
03:11
Indonesia’s President: “Xi and Putin at G20 Summit in Bali”
The Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Russian Wladimir Putin will attend the G20 summit in Indonesia. This was announced by the Indonesian President. Joko Widodo, in an interview with Bloomberg. “Xi Jinping will come. Putin also told me he will be there,” the Indonesian leader said. It is the first time that Widodo has confirmed the presence of the two presidents at the November summit. In recent months, Joe Biden has called for Russia’s expulsion from the G20 in response to his invasion of Ukraine. And several US government officials pressured Widodo not to invite Putin to the summit.