Live blog: Ukraine begins southern offensive against Russian troops

Monday, August 29, 2022

Ukraine: Long-anticipated southern offensive has begun

The Ukrainian military has started a long-awaited counter-offensive against Russian forces in the country's south, its southern command says.

Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk confirmed the offensive in a news briefing and said it included the Kherson region.

Ukraine has regularly stated its intention to retake its south and the city of Kherson in particular — the only regional capital that Russia has been able to capture from Ukraine since its offensive began six months ago.

Ukraine: Russian shelling near nuclear plant injures 10

At least 10 people have been injured when Russian forces shelled residential areas surrounding Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, a Ukrainian official said.

The shelling occurred in the city of Energodar, near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, said Mayor Dmitry Orlov on his Telegram account.

Two of the injured are in critical condition, he added.

Dutch to send more investigators for ICC Ukraine probe

The Netherlands has said it will send three more teams of investigators to Ukraine to support an International Criminal Court probe into "war crimes" since the Russian offensive began.

The missions, set for late 2022 and for next year, follow the deployment to Ukraine in May of several Dutch investigators as part of the ICC's largest such deployment in its history.

"We remain fully committed to justice for war crimes in Ukraine," Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra tweeted.

Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia mission hardest in history of IAEA

The UN atomic watchdog's mission to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine will be the agency's hardest to date, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned.

"This mission will be the hardest in the history of the IAEA, given the active combat activities undertaken by the Russian Federation on the ground and also the very blatant way that Russia is trying to legitimise its presence," Kuleba said during a visit to Stockholm.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Monday he and his team were on their way to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has been the target of strikes in recent weeks, and would arrive later this week.

G7 demands unimpeded access for IAEA at Ukraine plant

G7 industrialised powers have demanded unimpeded access for the UN atomic watchdog's staff heading to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) staff must be able to access all nuclear facilities in Ukraine in a timely and safe manner and "without impediment", said the G7 Non-Proliferation Directors Group in a statement.

Personnel from the IAEA should also be allowed to "engage directly, and without interference, with the Ukrainian personnel responsible for operating these facilities", they added.

Russia says it shot down Ukrainian drone near Zaporizhzhia nuclear station

Russia's defence ministry has said Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone that was trying to attack the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

The defence ministry said the drone was shot down by Russian troops placed on the roof of one of the buildings of the nuclear plant on Sunday. 

It said there was no serious damage and radiation levels were normal. 

Kremlin calls for pressure on Ukraine over Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The Kremlin has called on the international community to pressure Ukraine to reduce military tension at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, accusing Kiev of putting the whole of Europe in danger ahead of a visit by the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Moscow was not talking about the possibility of a demilitarised zone at the plant - something the United States has urged it to implement.

IAEA to visit Ukraine nuclear plant amid renewed shelling

The UN nuclear watchdog has announced that its mission of top experts “is now on its way” to the Zaporizhzhia plant, even as renewed shelling in the area highlighted fears of a catastrophe.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi's announcement came as Ukraine accused Russia of new rocket and artillery strikes at or near the plant.

The facility, which has six reactors, was already temporarily knocked offline under the barrage of shelling last week.

Shelling near Ukraine nuclear plant fuels disaster fears

Russian forces have pounded Ukrainian towns across the river from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, officials said, while reports of shelling around the facility fuelled fears of a radiation disaster.

Captured by Russian troops in March but run by Ukrainian staff, Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, has been a major hotspot in the six-month conflict with both sides trading blame for recent shelling near the plant.

Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the city where the plant is located, the chief of staff of Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said late on Sunday on his Telegram channel alongside a video of fire fighters dousing burning cars.

"They provoke and try to blackmail the world," chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.

Russia, Ukraine trade claims of nuclear plant attacks

Russia and Ukraine have traded claims of rocket and artillery strikes at or near Europe's largest nuclear power plant, intensifying fears that the fighting could cause a massive radiation leak.

Ukraine's atomic energy agency painted an ominous picture of the threat on Sunday by issuing a map forecasting where radiation could spread from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which Russian forces have controlled since soon after Moscow's Ukraine war began.

Attacks were reported over the weekend not only in Russian-controlled territory adjacent to the plant along the left bank of the Dnieper River, but along the Ukraine-controlled right bank, some 10 kilometres from the facility.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Ukrainian forces had attacked the plant twice over the past day, and that shells fell near buildings storing reactor fuel and radioactive waste.

In another apparent attack, Russian forces shot down an armed Ukrainian drone targeting one of the Zaporizhzhia plant's spent fuel storage sites, a local official said. 

Russian troop expansion ‘unlikely’ to impact Ukraine war – UK

Russia’s plans to expand the size of its military is “unlikely” to have an impact on its war on Ukraine.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update on the war that it was unclear whether Russia would make the increase by more recruitment or by rising the conscription.

“In any case, under the legislation currently in place, the decree is unlikely to make substantive progress towards increasing Russia’s combat power in Ukraine,” the statement said.

“This is because Russia has lost tens of thousands of troops; very few new contract servicemen are being recruited; and conscripts are technically not obliged to serve outside of Russian territory,” read the British statement.

US blasts 'cynical' Russia for blocking UN nuclear text

The US State Department said that Russia did not want to acknowledge the grave radiological risk at the south Ukraine plant and had blocked a draft agreement on nuclear non-proliferation because it mentioned such risk.

"After weeks of intensive but productive negotiations, the Russian Federation alone decided to block consensus on a final document" at the conclusion of the four-week NPT review conference, State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said in a statement.

He said Moscow's move was done "in order to block language that merely acknowledged the grave radiological risk at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine," a major atomic facility that is currently occupied by the Russian military.

For live updates from Sunday (August 28), click here