► Russia refutes the use of “heavy weapons” in the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
The Russian army assured Thursday that it had not deployed “heavy weapons” in and around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, under Moscow control in southern Ukraine and recently hit by strikes. “We emphasize that the Russian troops do not have heavy weapons in the compound of the plant and in the surrounding areas. Only security units are there”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The situation remains tense around the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, occupied since the beginning of March by the Russian army and targeted by repeated bombardments, of which Moscow and kyiv have mutually accused each other.
Strikes once landed near a radioactive storage building and another time caused a reactor to shut down automatically. Ukraine must prepare for “all scenarios”warned the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior on Wednesday. “No one could foresee that Russian troops were going to fire on nuclear reactors using tanks. It was unheard of”accused Denys Monastyrsky during a trip to Zaporijjia, a town located about fifty kilometers as the crow flies from this installation.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ruled on Wednesday « urgent » only one « inspection » of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) takes place at the plant, where the occupation of the site by Russian soldiers “constitutes a serious threat to its security and increases the risk of a nuclear accident or incident”.
► UN Secretary General meets Zelensky and Erdogan in Lviv
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to meet Ukrainian Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Lviv, western Ukraine, on Thursday, almost six months after its invasion by Russia.
The three men will discuss the recent agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals but also “the need for a political solution to this conflict”said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. “I have no doubt (that) the issue of the nuclear power plant (of Zaporizhia) and others will also be discussed”.
In his traditional evening statement, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Antonio Guterres was “already arrived in Ukraine. We will work together to achieve the necessary results for Ukraine”. The UN boss then planned to travel to Odessa, one of the three ports used under the grain export agreement, on Friday before traveling to Turkey to visit the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) responsible for supervising this agreement.
► At least seven dead in Kharkiv
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, Ukrainian authorities said a missile hit a three-storey residential building on Wednesday during a Russian bombardment causing “a mighty fire”. “At this stage, there are seven dead and seventeen injured”, said Igor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, revising upwards the previous toll of six dead and sixteen injured. A “despicable and cynical attack”denounced President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Igor Terekhov, at least five missile attacks took place overnight from Wednesday to Thursday against several neighborhoods. A “very big fire” rages in an administrative building, he said. Regional Governor Oleg Sinegoubov reported “several fires” because of these strikes, which injured at least five people, including a child.
Located about forty kilometers from the Russian border, Kharkiv is regularly shelled by the Russian army but it has never managed to seize it. Hundreds of civilians were killed in this region, according to the authorities.