Live blog: Ukraine accuses Russia of 'mining' Zaporizhzhia plant pond

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Ukraine's military intelligence chief has accused Russia of "mining" the cooling pond used to keep the reactors cool at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine's south.

The vast six-reactor complex, Europe's biggest nuclear plant, has been under occupation since shortly after Moscow's forces captured it in February last year.

"...Most terrifying is that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was additionally mined during that time... namely the cooling pond was mined," Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR agency, said on television, without providing evidence for his assertion.

The two sides have accused each other of shelling the plant and its environs, and international efforts to establish a demilitarised zone around the complex have failed so far.

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1701 GMT - Ukraine repatriates three POWs from Russia via Hungary

Kiev has repatriated three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary after a group of POWs was transferred there from Russia without coordination with Kiev, the foreign ministry has said.

"The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to bring back three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote on his Facebook page.

Nikolenko said they were already back on Ukrainian soil and were receiving the support they needed, adding that Ukrainian diplomats and other relevant Ukrainian authorities were working to try to bring back the remaining prisoners of war.

Hungary, which under Prime Minister Viktor Orban has forged strong political and economic ties with Moscow, said on June 9 that Budapest had received a group of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia.

1659 GMT - Russian-backed officials: Woman killed in Ukraine drone attack

Ukrainian forces struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in southern Kherson region with drones, killing one person and wounding four, the local Russian-backed authorities have said.

The morning attack on public service facilities, reported on the Telegram social platform, was carried out by loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones.

The officials said the injured were rushed to hospital, while a woman died later from her injuries. Reuters news agency could not independently verify the report.

1552 GMT - Fighter for Ukraine jailed for 16 years in Russia

A former deputy commander of a Ukrainian militia unit has been sentenced by a Russian court to 16 years in a penal colony for taking part in what Moscow considers an illegal armed group and receiving "terrorist" training, Russian media reported.

Denis Muryga was a senior member of Aidar, one of the dozens of volunteer battalions that emerged in Ukraine after fighting broke out in 2014 with Russian-supported groups that declared breakaway "republics" in the east of the country.

The units, some with ultra-nationalist roots, were later absorbed into Ukraine's armed forces.

1539 GMT - EU's oil imports from Russia plunge 90 percent in March

EU's oil imports from Russia have plunged 90 percent in March compared with the average monthly figure in 2019-2022 due to the Ukraine conflict-related sanctions, showed recent official figures.

The total imports of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia into the EU27 plummeted to 1.4 million tons in March compared with 15.2 million tons on average in the three years to 2022, the Eurostat said in a statement.

The ban on imports of seaborne crude oil entered into force on December.

1446 GMT - Lavrov says those ‘against freezing’ Ukraine conflict wants ‘to wage war’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the head of NATO shows that the alliance wants to wage war when it opposes the "freezing" of the conflict in Ukraine.

"If NATO, through the mouth of (Secretary-General Jens) Stoltenberg, once again declares that they are against freezing, as they put it, of the conflict in Ukraine, so it means they want to wage war. Well, let them wage war!" he said at a news conference in Minsk.

1435 GMT - Ukraine rescue worker killed, 8 injured by Russian fire in Kherson: minister

Ukraine has reported that one rescue worker was killed and several others were injured by Russian forces in the southern city of Kherson, which was recently flooded after the breach of a major dam nearby.

"One employee of the State Emergency Service dead, another eight were injured in Kherson," Ukrainian interior minister Igor Klymenko said on social media, adding that the team was involved in clean up efforts in the wake of the flood.

Kiev, which says Russia blew up the Kakhovka dam earlier this month, has repeatedly accused Moscow of shelling rescue efforts and evacuation boats in the Kherson region.

The destruction of the dam caused devastating floods in southern Ukraine.

1432 GMT - Ukrainian kickboxing champion Maksym Bordus killed in fighting

Ukrainian kickboxing champion Maksym Bordus has been killed fighting Russian forces, a website that lists athletes killed in the conflict said.

Bordus was killed on June 11 in "fierce fighting against Russian invaders", according to "Sport Angels", a Ukrainian website set up with the assistance of the Sports Committee that brings together NGOs and federations from non-Olympic sports.

A petition was posted on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's website calling for Bordus to be posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of Ukraine".

1412 GMT - UN concerned over worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine, calls for more help

The UN has expressed concern over the worsening civil and humanitarian situation in Ukraine and urged for more help to the conflict-torn country.

Due to the conflict in Ukraine, the portion of the population which needs social payments and humanitarian aid significantly increased as a result of the declining income of households since the start of the conflict in February 2022, said the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner.

“For example, 65 percent of the households reported a decline in their income while those who need humanitarian aid rose to 21 percent from 1 percent,” he said in an online press conference, in relation to the Ukraine Recovery Conference which will be held in London on June 21-22.

1406 GMT - EU nations to train 30,000 Ukraine troops in 2023: Kiev

European Union member states plan to train as many as 30,000 members of Ukraine's armed forces this year, including from territorial defence units, Kiev has said, building on an initial target of 15,000 personnel.

"In 2023, the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine plans to train 30,000 Ukrainian armed forces personnel, including soldiers of the territorial defence forces," the defence ministry in Kiev said.

Brussels also asked EU member states to back a $55 billion (50-billion-euro) package to support Ukraine over the next four years, as part of a boost to the bloc's budget.

1309 GMT - World Bank aims to expand Ukraine aid for energy, transport projects during recovery

The World Bank is looking to enhance aid to Ukraine for "urgent repair projects" from transport, energy and housing sectors, the bank's director for operations Anna Bjerde has said ahead of the Ukraine Recovery conference in London.

The Washington-based lender has disbursed over $21 billion to Ukraine, mainly via grants, since the conflict started in February 2022, focused on government expenditure.

"The budget support will continue, but now there is a comprehensive pivot to the country's recovery," Bjerde said.

0953 GMT - China imports of Russian oil highest since Ukraine conflict

Chinese imports of Russian oil last month hit their highest level since Moscow's February 2022 attack on Ukraine, Beijing's customs data has shown.

China is Russia's largest economic partner, with trade between them reaching a record $190 billion last year, according to Chinese customs data.

And in May, China imported 9.71 million tonnes of oil from Russia, detailed customs data showed, up from 5.4 million tonnes in February 2022 and 6.3 million the following month.

The figures show that imports of Russian crude by China since Moscow's attack on Ukraine have almost doubled.

0937 GMT - Russia claims Ukraine plans missile strikes on Moscow-annexed Crimea

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has alleged that Ukraine was planning to attack Moscow-controlled Crimea with HIMARS long-range artillery systems and Storm Shadow missiles and warned that Russia would retaliate, according to TASS.

Such strikes, which Russia considers to be outside the area of what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, would also mean full-scale involvement of the United States and Britain in the conflict, TASS quoted Shoigu as saying.

0859 GMT - Ukraine downs Russian drones but some get through due to gaps in air protection

Ukranian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones launched by Russia early Tuesday, most of them in the Kiev region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the country’s air protection.

Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, but Ukrainian air defenses in the area shot down about two dozen of them.

The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland.

In the Lviv region, the Russian strike hit a critical infrastructure facility, starting a fire, according to Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi.

Trade, climate crisis and the conflict in Ukraine are on the agenda on Tuesday as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who is on his first foreign trip since taking office.

The meeting in Berlin is the seventh time Germany and China have held high-level government consultations and comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U .S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, indicating an effort by Beijing to reach out to the West and improve frosty relations.

0703 GMT - Russian-backed officials say Ukraine struck town of Nova Kakhovka with drones - TASS

Ukrainian forces on Tuesday struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones and three civilians were wounded, the TASS news agency reported, citing the local Russian-appointed authorities.

The attack took place in the morning, TASS said, and was carried out by loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

0430 GMT - Ukraine meets 2 of 7 conditions to launch EU membership talks -sources

A European Union report will this week say that Ukraine has met two out of seven conditions to start membership negotiations, two EU sources said, with the bloc's executive set to highlight progress made despite the conflict triggered by Russia's military operation.

In a highly symbolic move, the EU granted Ukraine formal membership candidate status a year ago - four months after Russia, Kiev's Soviet-era overlord, attacked the country amid its efforts to pursue integration with the West.

But the EU set seven conditions - including on judicial reform and curbing endemic corruption - to launch accession negotiations. Ukraine has called for talks to start this year.

The executive European Commission's report is a milestone in that process, which supporters of Ukraine's quest for swift EU accession hope will culmi nate in a decision by the bloc's 27 member countries in December to start the talks with Kiev.

0239 GMT - Explosions rock Western Ukraine city of Lviv - mayor

Russia launched an overnight air attack on the Western Ukraine city of Lviv, rocking it and the surrounding region with explosions, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on the Telegram messaging app early on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear whether the explosions were Ukraine's defence systems repelling the attack or target being hit.

0122 GMT - Ukraine says Hungary ignores requests for contact with transferred POWs

Ukraine has said that Hungary has been ignoring requests for contact with prisoners of war that Kiev said had been secretly transferred from Russia and called the move an act of self interest on Prime Minister Viktor Orban's side.

Hungary, which under Orban has forged strong political and economic ties with Russia and has not cut them since Moscow began its offensive in Ukraine 16 months ago, said on June 9 that it had received a group of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia.

"All attempts by Ukrainian diplomats over recent days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens have failed," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on his Facebook page.

Hungary's foreign ministry has not immediately responded to Reuters' requests for a comment.

Hungarian and international media quoted Orban's chief-of-staff Gergely Gulyas as saying on Monday that the soldiers arrived in Hungary "on their own free will" and Kiev was informed after their transfer.

0052 GMT - EU readies 50 billion euro financial aid for Ukraine

The European Union is ready to propose a financial aid package of around 50 billion euro ($54.60 billion) to support Ukraine, Bloomberg News has reported citing people familiar with the matter.

2325 GMT - Blinken urges China's vigilance on its firms providing tech to Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he had asked China's government to be vigilant about private companies that may be providing Russia with technology that could be used against Ukraine, although he said he had seen no evidence Beijing is providing lethal assistance to Moscow.

"What we do have ongoing concerns about, though, are Chinese firms, companies, that may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine and we have asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that," Blinken told reporters.

Blinken spoke on a rare visit to Beijing during which China and the United States agreed to stabilise their intense rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, although the visit did not yield any major breakthrough.

For our live updates from Monday (June 19), click here.