Russia launches drone strikes on Kiev overnight
Today, Tuesday, local authorities said that Russia launched a night drone attack on Kiev, adding that all incoming drones were shot down and that preliminary information indicated that there were no damages or casualties.
The attack comes a day after Russia warned of “severe retaliatory measures” after a drone attack on Moscow, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Ukraine.
Russia “attacked Kiev with strike drones,” Sergey Popko, the head of the military administration for the city of Kiev, said on Telegram, without specifying how many or where they were launched from.
It added, “The air alert lasted 3 hours… All air targets were detected and destroyed on approach to Kiev.”
According to information at this moment, there were no casualties or destruction in the capital.
main events
The International Atomic Energy Agency said last week that its experts had conducted inspections at the plant without “observing” any mines, although they were not allowed to enter the rooftops of the reactor buildings.
The latest statement from the International Atomic Energy Agency said that so far no entry has been allowed into the rooftops of reactor buildings and turbine halls.
After falling into Russian hands, Europe’s largest power plant has come under fire and been disconnected from the grid several times, sparking fears of a major nuclear accident.
The six reactor units, which before the war produced about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity, have been shut down for months.
The UN says that mines have been found at the Zaporizhia plant
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it saw anti-personnel mines at the site of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, AFP reported.
Europe’s largest nuclear facility fell to Russian forces shortly after they invaded Ukraine in February last year, and Kiev and Moscow have since accused each other of planning an accident at the site.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Monday that IAEA experts “saw some mines located in a buffer zone between the site’s inner and outer barriers on July 23.”
The statement did not say how many mines the team saw.
The devices were in “restricted areas” that could not be accessed by operating plant personnel, Grossi said, adding that the IAEA’s initial assessment was that any detonation “should not affect the site’s nuclear safety and security systems.”
He added that planting explosives at the site “contradicts IAEA safety standards and nuclear security directives” and created additional psychological stress on staff.
The Kiev regional military administration had earlier issued an alert about the drone attacks and warned residents to stay in shelters, according to AFP reports.
The Air Force also issued a warning of drone strikes over the southern regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv, which share part of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.
The regions are home to port infrastructure that Moscow has regularly hit with attack drones and missiles since exiting a deal to facilitate safe shipment of grain from Ukraine last week.
Russia launches drone strikes on Kiev overnight
Today, Tuesday, local authorities said that Russia launched a night drone attack on Kiev, adding that all incoming drones were shot down and that preliminary information indicated that there were no damages or casualties.
The attack comes a day after Russia warned of “severe retaliatory measures” after a drone attack on Moscow, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Ukraine.
Russia “attacked Kiev with strike drones,” Sergey Popko, the head of the military administration for the city of Kiev, said on Telegram, without specifying how many or where they were launched from.
It added, “The air alert lasted 3 hours… All air targets were detected and destroyed on approach to Kiev.”
According to information at this moment, there were no casualties or destruction in the capital.
Opening summary
This is the Guardian’s ongoing live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Sullivan.
Our main story this morning: Russia launched a nighttime drone attack on Kiev, local authorities said Tuesday, adding that all incoming drones were shot down and that early information indicated no damage or casualties.
The attack comes a day after Russia warned of “severe retaliatory measures” after a drone attack on Moscow, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Ukraine.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency says it has seen antipersonnel mines at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant site in Ukraine. Russian forces occupied the factory.
More on these stories soon. in another place:
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Russia said it had grounded two Ukrainian drones over Moscow in the early hours of Monday, with one of them crashing near the Defense Ministry in the city centre. Officials said the drones hit non-residential buildings in the capital, and there were no casualties. The attack came a day after Kiev vowed to “respond” to a Russian missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odessa. The White House said it does not support attacks inside Russia.
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The governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region said Russia was trying to “make the world starve”. By trying to completely block Ukrainian grain exports to world markets after the latest in a series of Russian air strikes on grain infrastructure on the Danube. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called on Russia to return to an agreement that would allow the safe export of Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea in line with a proposal he made to Vladimir Putin after Russia withdrew from the agreement a week ago.
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A senior US Treasury official will highlight Washington’s efforts to facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer exports during visits to Kenya and Somalia. The spokesman emphasized that Moscow’s withdrawal from the grain agreement in the Black Sea would harm African countries.
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The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday it had found anti-personnel mines in an area of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. For the second consecutive month, he complained that this violated safety measures.
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US officials say the Biden administration is sending up to $400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, Including a variety of munitions for advanced air defense systems and a number of small Hornet surveillance drones. The assistance comes as attacks in the war escalate to include strikes in Moscow and Crimea.
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Nearly 30 ships docked near the important Ukrainian port terminal of Izmail after Russia attacked grain warehouses on the Danube River on Monday. The data showed, though it’s unclear why. Russia’s predawn air strikes on Monday injured seven people and damaged infrastructure along the Danube River, a vital alternative route for Ukrainian grain since a year-old deal allowing safe exports across the Black Sea expired last week. Kiev said the attack was an expansion of a recent air campaign by Russia after withdrawing from the grain deal.
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Without providing any evidence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that the cathedral in Odessa was hit by a Ukrainian air defense missile.. Peskov said: “Our armed forces never bomb social infrastructure facilities, not to mention temples, churches and other similar facilities, so we do not accept such accusations, this is an absolute lie.” Russia reserves the right to take “severe retaliatory measures,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, after it accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow and Russia-annexed Crimea with drones.
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A child was killed and six people were injured in a Russian bombing of the city of Kostyantynivka, eastern Ukraine. According to the district governor. Pavlo Kirilenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces fired Smerch missiles at “a local pond, where people were resting”.
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The Belarusian Emergencies Ministry completes the armament and military training of its characterOn Monday, the head of the Emergencies Ministry said he was ready to help the defense and interior ministries in the event of an armed conflict. Emergencies Minister Vadim Sinyavsky told state television Belarus 1 that the staff would be ready to help the ministries “in the event of an armed conflict or some kind of riot in which a large number of employees should be involved”. While Lukashenko did not send his forces into Ukraine, he allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to launch its invasion.
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A journalist working for the French news agency AFP was injured in a Russian drone attack while covering a Ukrainian artillery position near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut.According to AFP correspondents who witnessed the attack. Dylan Collins, 35, an American citizen residing in Lebanon but on assignment in Ukraine, sustained multiple shrapnel wounds in the attack, which took place in a wooded area near Bakhmut. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was being treated. Doctors said his condition was not life threatening.
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The Kremlin on Monday accused Kiev Carrying out a “deliberate attack on journalists” in Zaporozhye region, southeastern Ukraine, after the murder of the correspondent of the official Russian news agency RIA.. War correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed in a Ukrainian cluster munition attack, according to the RIA news agency. Died of his wounds during his evacuation from a special military operation.
