Russia's Putin and France's Macron discuss the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant over the phone as Ukraine continues with its lightning counter-offensive on the 200th day of the conflict.
Ukraine says its forces are pushing back Russian soldiers from strategic holdouts in the east, with Kiev's military announcing that as much as 3,000 square kilometres have been wrested back.
(AFP)
Sunday, September 11, 2022Attacks at Ukraine nuclear plant could be 'catastrophic', warns Putin
President Vladimir Putin has warned his French counterpart of the potential "catastrophic consequences" of what he said were Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine.
During a telephone call with Emmanuel Macron, Putin "drew attention to regular Ukrainian attacks on (Zaporizhzhia nuclear) facilities, including a radioactive waste storage facility, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin said Russian specialists at the plant were taking steps to ensure its safety and said Moscow was ready to continue work with the UN's atomic agency to agree on "non-politicised" solutions to problems at the facility.
Macron asks Putin to withdraw weapons from Ukraine nuclear plant
French President Emmanuel Macron has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw Russian heavy and light weaponry from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Macron's office said.
The Elysee said Macron had told the Russian leader in a call that "the Russian occupation was the reason for the risks" and asked him to withdraw "heavy and light weapons" from the site.
The largest nuclear power plant in Europe has been a focal point of fighting in recent weeks, raising concerns of a potential nuclear incident.
Backup power line to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant restored, IAEA says
A backup power line to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) inside Ukraine has been restored, providing it with the external electricity it needs to cool its reactors, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Sunday.
"After yesterday's restoration of (the) power line...#ZNPP operator this morning shut down its last operating reactor, which over past week had been providing ZNPP w/ required power after it was disconnected from grid," the IAEA said on Twitter.
"This power can now come from the grid instead."
Turkish, Ukrainian ministers discuss grain exports, humanitarian aid
Türkiye’s national defence minister has held a phone call with Ukraine’s defence and infrastructure ministers.
In the talks with Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov and Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, Hulusi Akar exchanged views on grain shipments as well as humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the Turkish National Defence Ministry said in a statement.
During the call, Akar said he was pleased by the work carried out in cooperation and coordination at the Joint Coordination Centre, the statement added. He also underlined that Türkiye’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine will continue.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed an Ankara-brokered agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in February.
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Final reactor at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant stopped
Ukraine’s atomic power operator said that the last reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been shut down after the plant was reconnected to the electricity grid.
The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected from the grid last week after all its power lines were disconnected as a result of fighting in the area, and was operating in “island mode” for several days, generating electricity for crucial cooling systems from its only remaining reactor in operation.
Nuclear operator Energoatom said that one of the power lines was restored late Saturday, allowing plant operators to shut down the last reactor.
Gazprom's planned gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine at same level
Russia's Gazprom said it will ship 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of natural gas to Europe via Ukraine, the same volume as on Saturday.
Ukraine continues to make significant gains in the Kharkiv region, UK says
Britain said that Ukrainian forces have continued to make significant gains in the Kharkiv region over the last 24 hours.
Russia has likely withdrawn units from the area, but fighting continues around the cities of Kupiansk and Izium, the British Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on Twitter.
Russian forces are on back foot in northeastern Ukraine, where local forces have made rapid gains over past week pic.twitter.com/7UD0eZUpwj
Ukraine FM: We need more weapons
The success of a counter-offensive against Russia shows Ukraine can beat Moscow's forces but Kiev needs more weapons from its partners, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.
Moscow abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine in a sudden collapse of one of the war's principal front lines after Ukrainian forces made a rapid advance.
Kuleba, speaking at a news conference with visiting German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, said some allies had initially been hesitant to send weapons, citing the risk of antagonising Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Now, thank God, we are no longer hearing this argument ... we have demonstrated we are capable of defeating the Russian army. We are doing that with weapons given to us," he said. "And so I reiterate: the more weapons we receive, the faster we will win, and the faster this war will end."
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Source: TRTWorld and agencies
