“Don’t attack a nuclear power plant,” urges IAEA chief on visit to Kursk region

The Kremlin doubts it, but they did their job, kyiv claims, during the attack on Tuesday. Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for more. The point here:

Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, visited “the most important parts” of the Kursk nuclear power plant, which is less than 50 kilometers from the fighting. The infrastructure is operating in “conditions very close to normal,” he noted. But it is precisely because it is operating that the consequences of an impact could be “serious,” he also stressed. “It may seem simple and common sense: don’t attack a nuclear power plant,” the official pleaded.

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Tuesday that the proximity of the fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian armies to the Kursk nuclear power plant was an “extremely serious fact.” “A nuclear power plant of this type so close to the point of contact or a military front is an extremely serious fact,” he said during a tour of the facility in Russia’s border region of Kursk, where the Ukrainian army launched a surprise offensive three weeks ago.

Ukraine used F-16 fighter jets supplied by its Western partners to repel the latest massive Russian airstrikes, the Ukrainian president said on Tuesday.

“In these massive Russian attacks, we have already destroyed missiles and drones with the help of F-16s,” Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference, also repeating that the number of aircraft received by kyiv was “not enough.”

Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday the successful test of a first Ukrainian-made ballistic missile, a few days after welcoming the appearance on the front lines of a long-range missile drone, the famous “Palianytsia”.

“The first Ukrainian ballistic missile has been successfully tested. I congratulate our defense industry for this,” the Ukrainian president said at a press conference in kyiv, while refusing to “give more details” about this new weapon.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that he supports a “swift” end to the conflict in Ukraine, a country he visited last week;

New Delhi has avoided explicitly condemning Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, instead urging the two sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.

During his conversation with the Russian president, Narendra Modi said he “exchanged views on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine” and shared his “impressions during my recent visit to Ukraine,” according to a social media post. He added that he “reiterated India’s strong commitment to support an early, lasting and peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

The Ukrainian presidency said on Tuesday that it would find it “fair” for the second summit for peace in Ukraine to be held in the coming months in a country of the “Global South”, after a first edition in Switzerland in mid-June. This first summit intended to see the emergence of proposals to resolve the conflict was held in Switzerland with some 90 countries but without Russia or China.

“As for the second summit, we would like, and it would be right, for it to be held in one of the countries of the Global South,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of President Volodymyr Zelensky, said at a forum in kyiv on Tuesday, without giving further details.

He did, however, mention India during the conference, arguing that the country, although a historic partner of Moscow, “would never support any plan, any proposal that would include a compromise with the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” a few days after a historic visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to kyiv.

Ukraine controls 100 settlements and 1,294 square kilometers in Russia’s Kursk border region, where it has captured 594 enemy soldiers since the start of its offensive three weeks ago, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army said on Tuesday.

“To date, we have taken control of 1,294 square kilometers of territory and 100 settlements,” Oleksandr Syrsky said at a forum in kyiv. “594 members of the Russian armed forces have been taken prisoner in this area,” he added.

The Kremlin warned Paris on Tuesday against an “attempt to intimidate” the Franco-Russian boss of Telegram, Pavel Durov, who was arrested in France where he is suspected of twelve offences relating to organised crime.

“The accusations are very serious and they require equally strong evidence,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Otherwise, it will be obvious that this is an attempt to restrict freedom of communication (…) and even direct intimidation of the head of a large company,” he said. “It will be obvious that this is nothing but politics,” despite denials by French President Emmanuel Macron, Peskov added.

Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the arrest in France of the boss of the encrypted messaging service Telegram was “in no way a political decision” and was “part of a judicial investigation”, recalling that France was “committed to freedom of expression and communication”.

The Russian army claimed on Tuesday to have conquered a new town, Orlivka, in eastern Ukraine, about fifteen kilometres from the town of Pokrovsk, an important logistical hub for Ukrainian troops.

“Units of the Center grouping of troops have liberated the village of Orlovka (the Russian name for Orlivka) in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Telegram.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said on Tuesday he had received reports of an attempted incursion by Ukrainian armed forces, with several Russian media outlets reporting that a ground attack was underway.

“There are reports that the enemy is trying to cross the border of the Belgorod region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult, but under control,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram account.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, arrived at Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant on Tuesday, the Russian nuclear agency, Rosatom, told AFP.

Rafael Grossi is going there to take stock of the situation and assess potential risks, while a surprise Ukrainian offensive launched on August 6 continues in the region.

Rafael Grossi said on Monday that he wanted to “independently assess what is happening,” adding that “the safety of all nuclear power plants” was “a central issue” for the IAEA.

Ukraine says it shot down five Russian missiles and 60 drones out of 91 “attack devices” sent by Russia on the night of Monday to Tuesday, the day after one of the most “massive” attacks since the start of the conflict.

“On the night of August 27, 2024, the radio engineering troops of the Air Force detected and tracked 91 enemy attack vehicles,” Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday. A total of 81 drones and 10 Russian missiles were fired, he said.

After a man was killed in a Shahed drone strike that destroyed homes in the Zaporizhzhia region, a woman has also died, local governor Ivan Fedorov said.

At least three people were killed in Ukraine last night in new Russian strikes, the day after one of the most “massive” attacks since the start of the conflict.

Two people were killed in the central Kryvyi Rig district, local official Yevgeny Sytnychenko said on Telegram, in what authorities described as an “attack.” A man was also killed in a Shahed drone strike in the Zaporizhzhia region, local governor Ivan Fedorov said. Air raid alerts are in effect across the country except for the Odessa region and the city of kyiv.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Ukraine last week, spoke with Joe Biden on Monday and reiterated his desire for “peace and stability,” according to Indian diplomacy. The American president, for his part, welcomed “the message of peace and the constant humanitarian support for Ukraine” delivered by the Indian leader, according to the White House.

Hello everyone. Like every day, the editorial staff of 20 Minutes is mobilized to give you all the information on the conflict. Yesterday, Ukraine suffered a massive Russian attack targeting its energy infrastructure. Since the beginning of its invasion in February 2022, Russia has regularly bombed this type of infrastructure of its neighbor, forcing the authorities there to ration electricity, especially during heat peaks.