Home ›› 05 Mar 2022 ›› Front
Russian invasion forces seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant on Friday in southeastern Ukraine, triggering global alarm, but a huge blaze in a training building has been extinguished and officials said the facility was now safe.
Combat raged elsewhere in Ukraine as Russian forces surrounded several cities in the second week of the assault launched by Russian President Putin.
A presidential advisor said an advance had been halted on the southern city of Mykolayiv after local authorities said Russian troops had entered it. If captured, the city of 500,000 people would be the biggest yet to fall.
Kyiv came under renewed attack, with air raid sirens blaring in the morning and explosions audible from the city centre.
‘War crime’
In a statement on Facebook, Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry said several people have been killed or injured in the fire that broke out from Russian shelling of a the nuclear power plant. Employees are monitoring the Zaporizhzhia plant to make sure it’s operating safely and radiation levels are currently normal.
Russia blamed Ukraine for the fire, calling it a “monstrous provocation,” but the US Embassy in Kyiv accused Putin of “a war crime” with what it said was the “shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear plant.”
‘Monstrous attack’
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Raphael Grossi described the situation as “normal operations, but in fact there is nothing normal about this”. Grossi said the plant was undamaged from what he believed was a Russian projectile. Only one reactor was working, at around 60 per cent of capacity. He was trying to contact Russian and Ukrainian officials to sort out political responsibility.
‘Europeans wake up’
“Europeans, please wake up. Tell your politicians – Russian troops are shooting at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. In another address, he called on Russians to protest.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed or wounded and more than 1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Feb 24, when Putin ordered the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
Fighting rages, sanctions mount
In Russia, where Putin’s main opponents have largely been jailed or driven into exile, the war has led to a further crackdown on dissent. Authorities have banned reports that refer to the “special military operation” as a “war” or “invasion”. Anti-war demonstrations have been squelched with thousands of arrests.
On Friday, Russia shut down foreign broadcasters including the BBC, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. The most prominent independent Russian broadcasters, TV Dozhd (Rain) and Ekho Moskvy radio, were shuttered on Thursday. The lower house of parliament introduced legislation on Friday to impose jail terms on people who spread “fake” reports about the military.
Russia ‘using cluster bombs’
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said there is evidence Russia is using cluster bombs in its invasion.
At a news conference, he told reporters: “We have seen the use of cluster bombs and we have seen reports of use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law.”
He also says the Western military alliance would not set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine - nor send its troops there - but promises other help to Kyiv and urged Putin to end the invasion immediately.
Meanwhile, at least 47 people were killed by Russian air strikes in the northern city of Chernihiv on Thursday, Ukraine said.
Gas prices soar to record highs
European and UK gas prices surged to record peaks Friday on supply disruption fears as a result of key supplier Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine.
Humanitarian corridors
Ukraine and Russia agreed to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians on Thursday during a second round of talks, negotiators on both sides said.
“The second round of talks is over. Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have the results it needs yet. There are decisions only on the organisation of humanitarian corridors,” Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.
3rd round of talks this weekend
Ukraine plans to hold a third round of talks this weekend with Russian officials to try to end the fighting triggered by Moscow’s invasion, one of Kyiv’s negotiators said Friday.
“The third leg could take place tomorrow or the day after, we are in constant contact,” Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said, on the eighth day of the war.
Podolyak, speaking in the Western city of Lviv, said Kyiv was just waiting for a response from President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin to confirm the timing of the talks.
