The day of the war at a glance
Nuclear power plant inspection planned for next week – Ukraine claims to have destroyed an important bridge
08/26/2022, 8:57 p.m
The Ukrainian President Zelenskyj saw the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on the verge of a super meltdown. In the coming week, a commission of experts is to inspect the power plant. Meanwhile, Kyiv reports that it has destroyed a bridge that is strategically important for Russia. According to the British secret service, Moscow wants to cover up the failure of its military with false information. The 184th day of the war at a glance.
Nuclear power plant back on the grid
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, occupied by Russian troops, has been reconnected to the power grid after a day’s interruption. Two of the stopped reactor blocks are back on the grid and “the capacity will be increased,” said the state-owned operating company Energoatom. The power plant has been “reconnected to the grid” since 2:04 p.m. local time (1:04 p.m. CEST) and is again producing “electricity for Ukrainian needs”, according to Energoatom. According to Kyiv, the nuclear power plant was completely disconnected from the power grid for the first time in its history as a result of Russian attacks on Thursday.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the reason for the disconnection from the grid was a Russian attack on the last active power line between the nuclear power plant and the power grid. Russia has “brought Ukrainians, like all Europeans, to the brink of nuclear catastrophe,” he said in his daily video address.
Breakthrough in nuclear power plant negotiations
Meanwhile, negotiations over access to the nuclear plant made a breakthrough: Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will pay an urgent visit to the plant early next week, according to people involved in the talks. The IAEA team could bring spare parts, radiation monitors and other essentials for Europe’s largest nuclear power plant amid fears that hostilities in the region, which have damaged power lines and caused fires at the plant, could lead to a nuclear disaster.
Over the past 72 hours, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has shuttled back and forth between Ukrainian diplomats in Vienna, Russian officials in Istanbul and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to discuss preparations. Two people familiar with the situation said it was “almost certain” that an IAEA mission would visit the Zaporizhia facility early next week, although final details have not yet been finalized. According to a source, “frantic preparations” are underway. “The appointment is next week,” said a person familiar with the matter. According to another informant, the visit could take place as early as Monday.
Ukraine: Bridge unusable in occupied south
Ukraine reported a missile attack on a strategically important bridge in the occupied south of the country. It should no longer be usable for Russia. The Darivsky Bridge in the Cherson region was hit by Ukrainian missiles, the southern military command said. The information cannot be independently verified. Should the bridge fail, it would severely limit connectivity between parts of Russian-held territory west of the Dnipro River.
After more than six months of Russian war of aggression, Kyiv in eastern Ukraine still controls large parts of the Donetsk region. 45 percent are under Ukrainian control, military governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on the Nastoyashcheye Vremya TV station. Before the Russian invasion on February 24, around two-thirds of the area with around 1.67 million inhabitants was under Ukrainian control. Around 350,000 people are currently staying in the remaining part, said Kyrylenko.
London: Moscow spreads fake news
According to British experts, Moscow’s claims about allegedly deliberately slowing down attacks in Ukraine are false. This emerges from the daily intelligence update from the Ministry of Defense in London. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that the army had slowed down its attacks to protect Ukrainian civilians. But according to the British, this is deliberate misinformation intended to cover up the failure of the Russian military.
“Russia’s offensive has come to a halt due to poor performance by the Russian military and fierce Ukrainian resistance,” the British statement said on Twitter. The Russian armed forces repeatedly failed to meet the deadlines set by Shoigu. It is very likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Shoigu fired at least six generals because the advance was not fast enough for them, it said.
Belarus: Fighter jets converted for nuclear weapons
Belarusian SU-24 fighter jets have been modified to carry nuclear weapons, according to President Alexander Lukashenko. The step was agreed with Russian President Putin, said Lukashenko. Belarus does not have its own nuclear weapons, but is an ally of nuclear power Russia. Belarus has allowed Russia to use its territory to invade Ukraine.
Russia is also said to have received hundreds of Iranian drones to use in the war against Ukraine. A news agency report AP according to it, it is unclear whether the Russian army is already using the drones. However, according to officials, the drones should be ready for use. The reported delivery is the latest sign of apparently closer military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
Russians are said to have spied on the training of Ukrainians
Russian secret services are said to have tried to spy on the training of Ukrainian soldiers on western weapon systems in Germany. The military counter-intelligence service (MAD) noticed suspicious vehicles in the vicinity of the military bases in Idar-Oberstein in Rhineland-Palatinate and Grafenwoehr in Bavaria, from which access roads to the barracks were probably being observed, the “Spiegel” reported. Training sites were repeatedly flown over with small drones. In security circles it is also suspected that the Russian services could have tried to spy on the mobile phone data of the Ukrainian soldiers with radio scanners.
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