IAEA: ‘Urgent need’ for action to prevent accident at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published its report about the nuclear safety and security situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-east Ukraine.
The UN nuclear watchdog warns that there is “urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident” at the nuclear plant, adding that it was “gravely concerned” concerned about the situation at the facility.
The situation in Ukraine is “unprecedented”, the report writes.
It is the first time a military conflict has occurred amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power programme. A nuclear accident can have serious impacts within the country and beyond its borders.
The IAEA added:
Pending the end of the conflict and re-establishment of stable conditions there is an urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident arising from physical damage caused by military means.
This can be achieved by the immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone.
Key events
IAEA: Ongoing shelling near Zaporizhzhia plant represents ‘constant threat to nuclear safety’
The team of UN nuclear experts “closely” witnessed shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant during their visit to the facility, the IAEA report says.
They also first-hand observations of damage to the road surface, walls and windows of various buildings, as well as at the overpass connecting the reactor units at the plant.
The report continues:
The shelling could have impacted safety related structures, systems and components, and could have caused safety significant impacts, loss of lives and personnel injuries.
IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, stated that “while past events had not yet triggered a nuclear emergency, they represented a constant threat to nuclear safety and security because critical safety functions could be impacted”, it says.
IAEA: ‘Urgent need’ for action to prevent accident at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published its report about the nuclear safety and security situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-east Ukraine.
The UN nuclear watchdog warns that there is “urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident” at the nuclear plant, adding that it was “gravely concerned” concerned about the situation at the facility.
The situation in Ukraine is “unprecedented”, the report writes.
It is the first time a military conflict has occurred amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power programme. A nuclear accident can have serious impacts within the country and beyond its borders.
The IAEA added:
Pending the end of the conflict and re-establishment of stable conditions there is an urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident arising from physical damage caused by military means.
This can be achieved by the immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone.
Ukraine has urged Hasidic Jewish pilgrims travelling to the war-torn country to skip their annual pilgrimage to the city of Uman this year because of the Russian invasion.
Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims come to Uman from all around the world to visit the tomb of Rabbi Nachman for Rosh Hashana – the Jewish new year, celebrated this year between 25 and 27 September, Agence France-Presse reports.
Rabbi Nachman from Breslov (1772-1810) was the founder of an ultra-orthodox movement that settled in Uman in the early 1800s.
In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian embassy in Israel said:
“When the echoes of the Russian enemy explosions on Ukraine don’t stop, we must take care of ourselves.
“Please, avoid coming to Uman on Rosh Hashanah and pray that peace will return to Ukraine and the blessed pilgrimage will be renewed.”
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Plans have been made for “additional restrictions” in the city already under curfew.
More than 10,000 pilgrims from around the world are expected according to regional governor Igor Taburets, who was cited by Interfax-Ukraine.
Plans have been made for “additional restrictions” in the city already under curfew, including a ban on street vending and public gatherings because of the “high risk of a terrorist attack”, Taburets said.
He added:
We know how sly our enemy is. Any public gathering is potentially vulnerable.”
Three Royal Navy warships have been shadowing a Russian Navy taskforce in waters close to the UK, PA Media reports.
Type 23 frigates HMS Westminster, HMS Lancaster and HMS Richmond tracked Slava-class cruiser, Marshal Ustinov, the sister ship of the ill-fated Moskva which sunk in the Black Sea in April.
They have also been keeping a watch on Udaloy-class destroyer, Vice-Admiral Kulakov and tanker Vyazma as the three ships headed home from the eastern Mediterranean after supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since February.
At the same time, patrol ship HMS Mersey has also shadowed Russian military research vessel Akademik Ioffe on its journey south through the Dover shipping lanes into the Channel.
A Royal Navy spokesman said:
The frigates and their helicopters used an array of cutting-edge sensors and modern naval technology to keep close watch in the Celtic Sea and through the English Channel.”
HMS Westminster’s commanding officer (CO) Commander Ed Moss-Ward said:
Maritime security in the sea areas around the UK is crucial to our prosperity and resilience.
The Royal Navy routinely responds to escort warships in UK territorial waters and the adjacent sea areas to ensure compliance with maritime law, to deter malign activity and to protect our national interests.
Escorting the Russian task group has demonstrated that the Royal Navy is committed to maintaining maritime security and to co-operating with our Nato allies.”
HMS Lancaster shadowed the Russian ships from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Celtic Sea as part of Nato’s fast response task force in the Atlantic.
HMS Westminster deployed from Portsmouth to intercept the Russian ships in the Celtic Sea where the Marshal Ustinov was refuelled by the tanker Vyazma while HMS Richmond kept watch in the Channel.
Commander Tom Johnson, CO of HMS Lancaster, said:
Working together allows Nato allies to respond to security challenges at pace and collectively deter potential aggressors.
Exchange of personnel further deepens Nato cohesion and interoperability so that the alliance can swiftly and efficiently react to any threat.
Lancaster’s team work exceptionally hard to ensure we are always ready to respond to any threat at a moment’s notice.”
My colleague Isobel Koshiw writes:
A chimpanzee that escaped Kharkiv city zoo on Monday was persuaded to return by a zoo employee who wheeled it back on a bicycle.
Staff at the zoo in Ukraine’s second-biggest city were struggling to persuade Chichi, who had wandered around streets and a nearby park, to return to the zoo with them.
But when it started to rain she ran to a keeper, who put a yellow jacket on her. The pair embraced before Chichi was put on the seat of a bike.
Footage of the incident brought a rare moment of joy to a frontline city under daily bombardment by Russian forces.
The zoo’s director, Oleksiy Hryhoriev, confirmed to Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne that the animal was safely back in the zoo.
Earlier in the war, Chichi had been evacuated from the Feldman Ecopark, an outdoor zoo on frontlines in the Kharkiv region.
Read the full story here.
Editors at the Russian newspaper Kommersant have published a front-page editorial in support of the journalist Ivan Safronov, who was yesterday sentenced to 22 years in prison on treason charges.
The open letter to Safronov, a former military correspondent for Kommersant, pays tribute to how he became “the best in his field” and states that colleagues at the newspaper were “lucky to work with you”.
The letter writes that the authors “haven’t heard any public evidence of your guilt”, adding:
You didn’t give up – and don’t give up now. […] We love you, we believe in you. We are waiting for you.
A major Russian newspaper publishes a frontpage editorial, a strong letter of support to its former reporter Ivan Safronov who was sentenced to 22 years on trumped-up charges yesterday. Putin and his thugs took over the country, but people try to resist wherever they can. pic.twitter.com/t095rO392C
— Konstantin Sonin (@k_sonin) September 6, 2022
Safronov’s sentencing on Monday shocked friends and supporters who gathered in the Russian court to protest against his imprisonment.
He was tried on secret evidence, but case files revealed by Proekt showed that much of the case against him came from public data in his articles and alleged ties to foreigners that were not backed up by evidence.
Andrew Pulver
The actors Ben Stiller and Sean Penn have been banned from entering Russia following their outspoken support of Ukraine during the invasion.
Russia’s minister of foreign affairs released a list on Monday of 25 new names that will be excluded from the country in response to “the ever-expanding personal sanctions by the … Biden administration against Russian citizens”. Stiller and Penn are both included, along with political figures such as senators Mark Kelly, Rick Scott and Kyrsten Sinema.
Stiller, an ambassador for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, visited Ukraine in June, and posted a video on Instagram in solidarity with refugees of the conflict, saying: “Nobody chooses to flee their homes. Seeking safety is a right and it needs to be upheld for every person.” Stiller also met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, telling him: “You’re my hero.”
Penn has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine and Zelenskiy, having been in the country making a documentary as the Russian invasion got under way in February. Penn later made a series of TV appearances in April to call for US solidarity with Ukraine and asked for US fighter jets to be supplied to the country. He also said he had considered joining the fight against Russia.
They join a longer list of more than 1,000 names of US citizens who have been sanctioned by Russia; these mostly comprise political and military figures (including President Biden and Hillary Clinton, but not Donald Trump), but also a handful of Hollywood names, including executives Jeffrey Katzenberg and Peter Cramer, film director Rob Reiner, and actor Morgan Freeman.
Ukrainian troops ‘advanced and gained foothold’ in Luhansk, says governor
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk oblast, has said Ukrainian troops have “gained a foothold” in the eastern region.
In an update posted on Telegram, Haidai said Ukrainian forces have “advanced a little” in the Luhansk region and have repulsed Russian attacks.
Haidai wrote:
Luhansk Region continues to defend itself. Enemy attacks have been repulsed, there are certain positive results: our defenders have advanced a little and gained a foothold. We are waiting for the de-occupation.
It has not been possible to independently verify his claims.
More from Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who accused the west of not honouring its promise to help Russian food exports reach global markets, according to Russian state media.
Russian state-owned news agency Ria Novosti cited Lavrov as claiming that western countries had not relaxed sanctions that would allow it easier access to ship its agricultural products abroad.
Russia had seen the commitment as a key part of an UN-brokered grain deal that helped end a blockade on Ukrainian grain exports from its southern ports.
US to blame for Europe’s gas supply crisis, says Russia
Russia’s foreign ministry has said the US is responsible for Europe’s gas supply crisis by pushing European leaders towards the “suicidal” step of cutting economic and energy cooperation with Moscow.
Asked what needed to happen for the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to begin pumping again, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Reuters:
Listen, you are asking me questions that even children know the answer to: those who started this need to finish this.
She said the US had long sought to break the energy ties between Russia and major European powers such as Germany. Political forces playing the role of “sheep-provocateurs” were brought to power in EU countries, she added.
The “dominance of Washington prevailed”, Zakharova said. She added:
It is absolute suicide but it seems they will have to go through this.
A court in Moscow has revoked the licence of Novaya Gazeta’s sister magazine, a day after the newspaper was stripped of its print media licence and effectively banned from operating inside Russia.
On Monday, the Basmanny district court revoked Novaya Gazeta of its licence after Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006.
Speaking outside court yesterday, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief and Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov said the ruling was “a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis”. He said the paper would appeal.
The same court today revoked the licence of “No” (“But”), because of its failure to appear from 2009, when it was registered, until 2022.
Novaya Gazeta lawyer Yaroslav Kozheurov said:
Why did Roskomnadzor go to court only after the magazine was printed? It is absolutely clear that the appeal to the court is not due to the fact that the magazine was not published, but due to the fact that the magazine started appearing.
Novaya Gazeta is one of the country’s most important independent publications. Since it was established by Muratov and colleagues in 1993, it has investigated corruption inside and outside Russia, as well as the wars in Chechnya.
In March, Novaya Gazeta said it would cease operations until the end of the war in Ukraine after it received several warnings from the state censor for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law.
West reluctant to put Putin on trial, say Ukrainian officials
Ukraine’s major western allies have yet to sign up to establish a tribunal to try Vladimir Putin and his inner circle for the crime of aggression, wanting to leave space for future relations with Russia, according to Ukraine’s top officials.
“It’s big politics. On the one hand, countries publicly condemn the aggression but on the other, they are putting their foot in the closing door on relations with Russia so that it doesn’t close completely,” said Andriy Smyrnov, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, who is leading the country’s effort to establish the international tribunal.
Smyrnov said:
They are attempting to keep some space for diplomatic manoeuvres. We know that agreements with Russia are not worth the paper they are written on.
His claims come as the US president, Joe Biden, said on Monday that Russia should not be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, something Ukrainian officials and some US politicians had pushed for. Russia had previously said such a designation would mean Washington had crossed the point of no return.
Ukrainian officials say that since April, they have been trying to convince their western allies to establish an ad hoc tribunal that would hold Russia’s senior leadership responsible for the crime of aggression for invading Ukraine. Aggression is viewed as the supreme crime under international law because without the transgression of borders during an invasion, subsequent war crimes would not have been committed.
Read the full story by my colleagues, Isobel Koshiw and Patrick Wintour.
Liz Truss ‘won’t help Britain on international stage’, says Russian foreign minister
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has criticised Britain’s next prime minister, Liz Truss, for not being able to compromise and said the UK will not strengthen its position in the international arena under her leadership.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said the incoming prime minister tried to “defend Britain’s interests without taking into account the positions of others in any way and without any attempt to compromise”, he said.
Lavrov added:
I do not think that this will help Britain to maintain or strengthen its position in the international arena, which has clearly been shaken after it left the European Union.
He also mocked the incoming prime minister for saying she did not know if the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was a friend or an enemy.
He said:
For Liz Truss … it should be more of a priority to deal with her closest neighbours, including finally deciding whether President Macron is her friend or enemy. This question is still hanging in the air.
Lavrov said the UK had tried to “compensate” for Brexit by taking “drastic steps on the world stage” and was acting “aggressively over the situation in Ukraine”.
Summary of the day so far
Hello everyone. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong, taking over the blog from Jane Clinton to bring you all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening so far:
Russia’s biggest natural gas pipeline to Europe will not resume pumping until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment, Gazprom has said. Siemens Energy said an engine oil leak at the last remaining turbine in operation at the Portovaya compressor station did not warrant keeping the pipeline closed.
The Kremlin said Russia will not resume in full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, as gas prices surged and the pound and euro slumped. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. “It is these sanctions imposed by the western states that have brought the situation to what we see now.”
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has blamed Europe’s energy crisis on sanctions it imposed on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine – a line taken by the Kremlin itself. European nations were “harvesting what they sowed” by imposing economic restrictions on Russia, Erdoğan added.
The backup power line at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine has been disconnected to extinguish a fire, officials said on Monday. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the line itself was not damaged and that the backup line “will be reconnected once the fire has been extinguished”.
An expert mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is set to release their findings from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in a detailed report later on Tuesday. Four of the six UN mission members at the plant have left the site and the remaining two IAEA experts will stay on a permanent basis, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
The Kremlin has said “with much certainty” that Russia-UK relations will not improve under the leadership of Liz Truss. “Judging by statements made by Madame Truss when she was still foreign minister … one can say with much certainty that no changes for the better are expected,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Ukraine’s forces are conducting counteroffensive actions in the east and south-east of the country, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has said. Writing on Telegram, Oleksiy Arestovych said Kyiv’s troops had “liberated several settlements on the western bank of the Dnieper” and that Russian forces on the right bank of the Dnieper would be in an “extremely difficult” position within a month.
The Russian defence ministry is in the process of buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a newly downgraded US intelligence finding. A US official said the fact Russia was turning to North Korea demonstrated that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions”.
Vladimir Putin attended large-scale military exercises on Tuesday involving China and several other Russia-friendly countries. Participating countries in the military drills included several of Russia’s neighbours, as well as Syria, India and key ally China.
Jailed Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff has said worsening prison conditions were threatening his health. In a post on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, Navalny wrote last week via his lawyers that he had been sent to a punishment cell for a third time in August in revenge for his political activity.
Ukraine’s southern offensive has prompted Kherson occupiers to “pause” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia. Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s Russian-appointed authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” because of the security situation.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said European Union politicians are being “suicidal” over Russian energy supplies, Reuters reports.
Russian president Vladimir Putin was shown smiling and joking with his defence minister as he inspected a military exercise in Russia’s far east.
The “Vostok” (East) exercises also involve troops from China and India, although it was not clear if units from those countries were taking part in the exercise observed by Putin.
The Zvezda military news service showed a clip of Putin seated next to defence minister Sergei Shoigu, both were wearing military combat jackets and were seen exchanging a joke as they listened to a phone call between Shoigu’s deputy and the head of the general staff, Reuters reports.
The defence ministry says the four-yearly war games that began on 1 September involve only 50,000 troops, a fraction of the 300,000 they said took part in 2018.
Western military analysts say they believe both figures are exaggerated.
The defence ministry released a video of the naval part of the exercise, showing Russia’s Pacific Fleet practising launching Kalibr cruise missiles which it said had successfully struck a target more than 300km (185 miles) away.
On Monday, Russian and Chinese combat ships practised repelling an enemy air attack using air defence artillery systems.
India has sent an army contingent to the drills which it says is taking part in “joint field training exercises, combat discussions and firepower exercises”.
Russia is the biggest supplier of military hardware to India.
Moscow says the war games also involve military contingents and observers from Algeria, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria and six former Soviet republics.