Photograph: Reuters
Here is a round-up of events today:
Sweden has said it would provide liquidity guarantees to Nordic and Baltic energy companies worth “billions of dollars” in an effort to prevent a financial crisis sparked by Europe’s energy crunch,
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been disconnected from its last remaining main power line to the grid and is now relying on a reserve line, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement. Previously, there had been reports that it had been knocked offline in the early hours of Saturday amid sustained shelling that destroyed a key power line, according to local Russian-backed authorities.
The Russian energy major Gazprom has said Siemens Energy is ready to help repair broken equipment for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, but claimed there was nowhere available for them to carry out the work.
The EU expects Russia to respect existing energy contracts but is prepared to meet the challenge if it fails to do so, the economic commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, said.
Gazprom’s announcement that the Nord Stream pipeline 1 would not restart came after G7 finance ministers said that they plan to implement a price cap on Russian oil to reduce “Russia’s ability to fund its war of aggression”.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has told Vladimir Putin that his country can play a facilitator role regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, according to his office.
An eight-year-old child has died after Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv this morning, according to the head of the regional council, Hanna Zamazeyeva. Two other children were among those injured in Russian shelling in the city of Mykolaiv and Bereznehuvate, she said in an update on Telegram.
Russian troops launched overnight rocket attacks on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, according to the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has reportedly said he plans to take an “indefinite and long” break from his post. In a video posted to his Telegram, Kadyrov, 45, reportedly said he believed the “time has come” for him to leave.
The former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused the west of playing a “chess game with death” in its support of Ukraine and accused western countries of trying to take advantage of the conflict to push Russia to “a new round of disintegration”.
Ukrainian forces have “likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise” with the ongoing counter-offensive, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said. In its daily intelligence briefing, it said it had done so by taking advantage of “poor logistics, administration and leadership” in Russia’s military.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has said in a BBC interview that while the economic impact of the war in Ukraine is tough on its allies, Britons “count pennies” while Ukrainians “count casualties”.
Russians paid their final respects to the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, in a ceremony held in Moscow without much fanfare and with President Vladimir Putin notably absent. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, travelled to Moscow to pay his respects.
Updated
Sweden said it would provide liquidity guarantees to Nordic and Baltic energy companies worth “billions of dollars” in an effort to prevent a financial crisis sparked by Europe’s energy crunch, Agence France-Presse reports.
The prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, warned that Sweden was facing the prospect of a “war winter”.
Andersson said at a press conference in Stockholm that the guarantees were aimed at giving energy groups “the breathing room that is needed” and that there was “a clear security policy agenda behind Russia’s actions”.
The exact details of the guarantees, she said, have yet to be worked out.
Andersson added:
Russia’s energy war is having serious consequences for Europe and Swedish households and companies, especially in southern Sweden which is dependent on electricity prices in Germany, which in turn is very dependent on gas.
This threatens our financial stability. If we don’t act soon it could lead to serious disruptions in the Nordics and Baltics.
In the worst-case scenario we could fall into a financial crisis.”
Finance minister Mikael Damberg said the Swedish decision would “secure financial stability not only in Sweden but in the entire Nordic region”.
The guarantees were expected to be in place on Monday and would cover the Nordic and Baltic regions within the next two weeks.
Sweden’s parliament has been called in from its summer break to hold a vote on the government’s proposal on Monday.
Updated
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant running on reserve line
The global atomic energy watchdog has said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been disconnected from its last remaining main power line to the grid and is now relying on a reserve line.
Agence France-Presse reports:
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has once again lost the connection to its last remaining main external power line, but the facility is continuing to supply electricity to the grid through a reserve line, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed at the site today,” the agency said in a statement.
Less than 48 hours after Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi on Thursday established the presence of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to ZaporizhzhIa (ISAMZ) at the facility in southern Ukraine, the Agency’s experts were told by senior Ukrainian staff that the ZNPP’s fourth operational 750 Kilovolt (kV) power line was down. The three others were lost earlier during the conflict.”
#Zaporizhzhya NPP again lost connection to its last remaining main external power line but plant continues to supply electricity to grid thru reserve line, IAEA was told at site today, less than 48h after @RafaelMGrossi established presence of IAEA at site https://t.co/poctRjHtpk pic.twitter.com/F6wgbtDqTr
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) September 3, 2022
Updated
Here is a report from my colleague Andrew Roth:
The Pillar Hall in the House of the Unions is a grand old ballroom where Soviet leaders are put on display when they die. Nearly a century ago, the body of Vladimir Lenin lay in state for three days before his funeral. Stalin and Brezhnev followed. Now Mikhail Gorbachev is here, pale in a spotlit coffin: the last Soviet leader finally being laid to rest.
Vladimir Putin is not here, a snub that the Kremlin has said was a result of his busy work schedule. Yet thousands of Russians have come to pay their respects, lining up past the downtown theatres and trendy cafes, each person a reminder that Mikhail Gorbachev still remains a hero to some.
“He did a lot, but people now in our country hate him,” Vladimir Gubarev, a retired journalist who lined up on Saturday morning bearing a few carnations, told the Observer. “People want to be happy fast. Immediately. The way of Gorbachev was the slow way to freedom, to real freedom. And he didn’t have enough time.”
For many, coming to the hall was both an act of appreciation and one of defiance to honour the memory of a leader who brought new freedoms and hastened the collapse of his own country. “He was a great man, so immediately after his death, people say good words about him,” said Gubarev. “But only after he is gone. Because while he was alive, he was dangerous. He was the enemy.”
You can read the full report here.
Gorbachev’s funeral took place without state honours or the presence of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Reuters reports that the man “affectionately known as ‘Gorby’ in the West and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his role in ending the Cold War” was buried at Moscow’s famous Novodevichy cemetery alongside his wife Raisa, who died in 1999.
Best known in the West for helping end the Cold War, reducing his country’s nuclear stockpile, and for unwittingly presiding over the demise of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev’s legacy still divides opinion inside and outside Russia.
But those who lined up to say farewell recalled the late politician, who died in Moscow after an unspecified illness, with gratitude.
He was a peacemaker, he was one of God’s sons,” said Tatiana, 80, who said she had come despite poor health.
Tycoon and close friend Alexander Lebedev said: “He wanted to give us democracy and freedom and we turned out to not be very ready yet.
“That’s most unfortunate but we will still be a European country. This part of history will be over one day.”
Updated
Here are some images from the funeral today of the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev who died on Tuesday aged 91.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
The Russian energy major Gazprom has said Siemens Energy is ready to help repair broken equipment for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, but claimed there was nowhere available for them to carry out the work. Gazprom, the state-owned oil and gas firm, extended the shutdown of gas flows through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany on Friday evening, citing “malfunctions” on a key turbine along the pipeline.
The EU expects Russia to respect existing energy contracts but is prepared to meet the challenge if it fails to do so, the economic commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, said. Gentiloni was speaking after Russia scrapped a Saturday deadline to resume flows of an important gas supply route to Germany, deepening Europe’s difficulties in securing winter fuel.
Gazprom’s announcement that the Nord Stream pipeline 1 would not restart came after the decision by G7 finance ministers that they plan to implement a price cap on Russian oil. In a statement, the ministers said the cap was designed to reduce “Russia’s ability to fund its war of aggression” and that they would “urgently work on the finalisation and implementation” of the measure, but left out key details of the plan.
The Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-east Ukraine was once again knocked offline in the early hours of Saturday, local Russian-backed authorities said. Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Kremlin-appointed regional administration, claimed sustained shelling destroyed a key power line and penetrated deep into the plant’s premises. His claims could not be immediately verified.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has told Vladimir Putin that his country can play a facilitator role regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, according to his office. The pair spoke in a phone call where they also discussed developments regarding Ukrainian grain exports, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
An eight-year-old child has died after Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv this morning, according to the head of the regional council, Hanna Zamazeyeva. Two other children were among those injured in Russian shelling in the city of Mykolaiv and Bereznehuvate, she said in an update on Telegram.
Russian troops launched overnight rocket attacks on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, according to the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko. Russian forces also struck two enterprises in Sloviansk, damaging several houses, Kyrylenko added.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has reportedly said he plans to take an “indefinite and long” break from his post. In a video posted to his Telegram, Kadyrov, 45, reportedly said he believed the “time has come” for him to leave. Kadyrov has ruled Russia’s Chechnya republic with an iron fist since 2007.
The former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused the west of playing a “chess game with death” in its support of Ukraine. Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, accused western countries of trying to take advantage of the conflict to push Russia to “a new round of disintegration”.
Ukrainian forces have “likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise” with the ongoing counter-offensive, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said. In its daily intelligence briefing, it said it had done so by taking advantage of “poor logistics, administration and leadership” in Russia’s military.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has said that while the economic impact of the war in Ukraine is tough on its allies, Britons “count pennies” while Ukrainians “count casualties”. In an interview with the BBC due to be broadcast on Sunday, Zelenska said if support for Ukraine was strong the crisis would be shorter.
Russians paid their final respects to the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, in a ceremony held in Moscow without much fanfare and with President Vladimir Putin notably absent. Several thousand mourners queued up to quietly file past Gorbachev’s open casket that was flanked by honour guards under the Russian flag in the historic Hall of Columns. Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, travelled to Moscow to pay his respects.
Updated
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov ‘taking indefinite leave’ - reports
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, has reportedly said he plans to take an “indefinite and long” break from his post.
Kadyrov, who has ruled Russia’s Chechnya republic with an iron fist since 2007, was in March promoted to lieutenant-general by Vladimir Putin for his role in the invasion of Ukraine.
In a video posted to his Telegram, Kadyrov, 45, reportedly says he believes the “time has come” for him to leave.
Kadyrov said:
I realised that I have been sitting in my position for a long time. I think my time has come [to leave power].
The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford shared the video, writing:
Is Kadyrov resigning or is this some weird Kadyrovism?
Is Kadyrov resigning or is this some weird Kadyrovism?
— Sarah Rainsford (@sarahrainsford) September 3, 2022
He says he’s just realised he’s led Chechnya for 15 years, & guests are best loved when they leave on time ‘so I think my time has come too (chuckle) before they kick me out’
Maybe he just wants everyone to beg him to stay pic.twitter.com/Vqb54RhsAv
Ukraine’s first lady: As Britons counts pennies, we count casualties
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has said that while the economic impact of the war in Ukraine is tough on its allies, Britons “count pennies” while Ukrainians “count casualties”.
In an interview with the BBC, Zelenska said if support for Ukraine was strong the crisis would be shorter.
The wife of Volodymyr Zelenskiy was asked what message she had for people in the UK who are facing soaring energy bills in part due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenska said:
I understand the situation is very tough. But let me recall that at the time of the Covid-19 epidemic, and it’s still with us, when there were price hikes, Ukraine was affected as well.
The prices are going up in Ukraine as well. But in addition our people get killed.
So when you start counting pennies on your bank account or in your pocket, we do the same and count our casualties.
During the interview, which will be broadcast tomorrow, she said it was difficult for people outside Ukraine to understand the impact of the war on its people.
It was, therefore, important to keep highlighting the human toll of the war, she said.
She added:
That’s why we have to tell these stories, to show these stories, because these are the faces of a war. Not a number of bombs dropped, not the amount of money spent, human stories - and there are a thousand stories like that around.
Updated
Child killed in Russian shelling of Mykolaiv, says official
An eight-year-old child has died after Russian shelling in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv this morning, according to the head of the regional council, Hanna Zamazeyeva.
Two other children were among those injured in Russian shelling in the city of Mykolaiv and Bereznehuvate, she said in an update on Telegram.
Zamazeyeva said:
Today’s morning was especially difficult. Shelling continues. Unfortunately, there are victims. There are two wounded in the city of Mykolaiv, four in Bereznehuvate. Among those injured are two children. Unfortunately, an 8-year-old child [was killed].
She added:
In addition to artillery shelling, air strikes on populated areas in the Pervomaiske, Shyroke and Bereznehuvate communities were recorded. Residential buildings and outbuildings were damaged. Fires broke out as a result of shelling.
It has not been possible to independently verify this information.
Updated
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, said he has spoken with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, following a long-awaited visit by UN nuclear inspectors to the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine.
Michel paid tribute to the UN nuclear agency’s “courage and professionalism”, describing the 14-strong team’s mission to the Russian-occupied nuclear plant as “impressive”.
The EU “fully supports” the IAEA’s work and efforts, he added.
Their courage and professionalism in accomplishing the first mission to #ZNPP is impressive.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) September 3, 2022
Russia has put the world in danger.
Ensuring nuclear safety and security is key: continued @iaeaorg presence at the plant is necessary.
Updated
the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has accused the west of playing a “chess game with death” in its support for Ukraine.
In a post on Vkontake, Russia’s largest social network, Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, accused western countries of trying to take advantage of the conflict to push Russia to “a new round of disintegration”.
“To do everything so that the state institutions of Russia stop working,” he said. “To deprive the country of effective governance, as it was back in 1991. And, as a result, eliminate Russia from the political field.”
He added that the “such attempts are really extremely dangerous” because they “ignore a simple axiom: the violent disintegration of a nuclear power is always a chess game with death”.
He also described Russia’s nuclear arsenal as “the best guarantee of the preservation of Great Russia”.
Updated
At least one woman has been injured in a strike on the southern city of Mykolaiv, the city’s mayor has said.
Posting on Telegram, Oleksandr Senkevych said explosions were heard in the city at around 11:30am local time and that a garage had been struck.
He said rescuers were working to extinguish a fire at the site and that the shockwave had also blown out the windows and doors of a nearby private residential building.
One woman received shrapnel injuries, he said.
Updated
Erdoğan tells Putin he can 'facilitate' in Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant standoff
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that his country can play a facilitator role regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, according to his office.
The pair spoke in a phone call where they discussed developments regarding Ukrainian grain exports, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
They also expressed their determination to continue the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear plant in Turkey according to plans.
They agreed to discuss the issues in detail when they meet in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a summit later this month, the office added.
Updated
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has travelled to Moscow to pay his respects at the funeral of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
There were no plans for Orbán to meet with Vladimir Putin during his trip to Moscow, Russian media reported, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov told Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti:
As far as we know, he will only fly in to say goodbye to Gorbachev. There were no desires for meetings.
At the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, for whom a “Common European Home” was so important, the only European leader among the mourners is Hungary’s conservative nationalist Viktor Orban. pic.twitter.com/x7QL654Gkk
— Felix Light (@felix_light) September 3, 2022
Vladimir Putin is waging economic and psychological war by closing a major gas pipeline to Europe, a former energy industry boss has said.
The decision by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom to extend the shutdown of gas flows through its Nord Stream 1 pipeline has left Britain “panicking”, according to Angela Knight, former chief executive of trade association Energy UK.
Speaking to Times Radio today, Knight said the UK and Europe had become energy dependent on countries that were “not all that friendly”.
She said:
He’s (Putin) actually playing the economic war extremely well. He’s playing the psychological war extremely well.
We have been panicking as a country - Europe has been panicking as well - and it’s not surprising and I’m not critical of it.
Britain’s energy policy has been “wrong for a long, long time”, she added. “It’s a really nasty shock that we’ve had.”
Updated
EU 'expects Russia to respect energy contracts' following Nord Stream 1 shutdown
The European commissioner for the economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said the EU expects Russia to respect energy contracts it has agreed but is prepared to meet the challenge if it fails to do so.
Asked about the halt to the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, Gentiloni pointed to high gas storage levels and said there were plans to conserve energy in the winter.
He said:
We expect Russia to respect the contracts that they have. But even if weaponisation of energy continues or increases, the EU is ready to react.
Updated
Mykhailo Podolyak, a key Ukrainian presidential adviser, has said Kyiv will determine the end of the war when it has finished “liberating its territories” and demanding Russia pay reparations.
Podolyak wrote on Twitter:
[Russian Federation] officials repeat weird mantra: “Special military operation will be completed on time”, “The West delays its completion”. It looks like they did not understand anything.
Ukraine will determine the ending war term by liberating its territories. As well as reparations payments amount.
RF officials repeat weird mantra: "Special military operation will be completed on time", "The West delays its completion". It looks like they did not understand anything. 🇺🇦 will determine the ending war term by liberating its territories. As well as reparations payments amount.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) September 3, 2022
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, earlier this week extended his “special military operation” and reportedly ordered his troops to capture the Donetsk region by 15 September, rather than the original 31 August deadline.
Updated
The Russian energy major Gazprom has said Siemens Energy is ready to help repair broken equipment for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, but claimed there was nowhere available for them to carry out the work.
Gazprom, the state-owned oil and gas firm, extended the shutdown of gas flows through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany on Friday evening, citing “malfunctions” on a key turbine along the pipeline.
It said the pipeline would not restart until repairs were fully implemented, without providing a timeframe for a reopening.
In a statement today, Gazprom said Siemens Energy was taking part in repair work in accordance with an existing contract between the two companies and was ready to fix faults which Gazprom said had forced it to halt gas supply to Germany through the pipeline.
Russian troops launched overnight rocket attacks on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, according to the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
In an update posted to his Telegram account, Kyrylenko said:
In Kramatorsk, a rocket hit a food enterprise, injuring a person. Another one hit a light industry enterprise. A fire broke out there.
Russian forces also struck two enterprises in Sloviansk, damaging several houses, Kyrylenko added.
Vadym Liakh, the mayor of Sloviansk, confirmed the city was under attack, writing on Facebook:
The city was shelled again. There were loud explosions on the outskirts. In Bylbasivka, private houses were damaged on Shkilna and Yaseneva Streets.
My colleague Andrew Roth is covering the farewell ceremony of Mikhail Gorbachev, which is being held in the Hall of Pillars in Moscow’s House of the Unions today.
Inside the Hall of Pillars where Gorbachev is lying in state in Moscow. Hundreds of mourners with bouquets of carnations lining up to pay tribute to the last leader of the Soviet Union. “It’s been six months since so many good people have been in one place,” says one mourner. pic.twitter.com/LsSPSvrzke
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 3, 2022
A few more photos. Body of Gorbachev lying in state as family and close friends sit nearby, quiet opera playing inside the hall, flanked by security and military guard of honor. pic.twitter.com/SFE8pBZV5Q
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 3, 2022
Mourners pay respects to Mikhail Gorbachev in funeral snubbed by Putin
The funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, will take place today without state honours or the presence of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Mourners began queuing up near the Kremlin this morning to pay their last respects to Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday aged 91.
Сотни людей собираются у Дома союзов в Москве, где пройдет прощание с Горбачевым.
— Новая газета. Европа (@novayagazeta_eu) September 3, 2022
Полицейские советуют идти мимо кафе «Страна, которой нет», чтобы добраться до места прощания, передает SOTA.
Видео: SOTA pic.twitter.com/dUjVjjtEuy
Gorbachev is the first Russian leader since Nikita Khrushchev not to receive an official state funeral in what has been widely seen as a snub by the Russian president.
He was, however, granted a public send-off, with authorities allowing Russians to view his coffin in the Hall of Columns, where previous Soviet leaders have been mourned.
The farewell ceremony will be followed by a closed funeral in the Novodevichy cemetery.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said schedule constraints meant Putin would not attend a public farewell ceremony at Moscow’s House of Unions, or the funeral at Novodevichy cemetery today.
Putin did pay his respects to the Soviet leader on Thursday morning, leaving flowers by Gorbachev’s coffin at the mourning hall of Moscow’s Central Clinical hospital.
Updated
Russia has expressed “alarm” to the UN’s secretary general that the US has yet to issue visas for its delegation to attend a session of the general assembly later this month, according to a letter seen by Agence France-Presse.
“None of the 56 Russian representatives from the main team and advance group have received entry visas to the United States” as of Thursday, Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia wrote in a letter addressed to the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres.
Nebenzia added that a “similar situation exists with the accompanying journalists and crew members” on the flight of the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov is set to lead Russia’s delegation to the UN general assembly from 20-26 September.
Nebenzia added:
This is even more alarming since for the last several months the authorities of the United States have been constantly refusing to grant entry visas to a number of Russian delegates assigned to take part in the official United Nations events.
Russia’s halting of gas deliveries to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for an indefinite period is set to worsen Europe’s energy crisis.
The Russian-owned gas giant Gazprom said on Friday that the pipeline, which was due to reopen on Saturday, would remain shut until a turbine was repaired.
Gazprom indicated it had discovered “oil leaks” in a turbine while carrying out maintenance with representatives of Siemens, which manufactured the turbine, and published a picture on Telegram of cables covered in a brown liquid.
On Telegram, Gazprom helpfully provides what it says is a photo of the oil leak that’ll be making Europe sweat … https://t.co/mYtq13efUB pic.twitter.com/xkrijq3O2v
— Felix Light (@felix_light) September 2, 2022
Earlier, the Kremlin warned the future operation of the Nord Stream pipeline – the biggest pipeline for gas from Russia to Europe – was at risk due to a lack of spare parts.
The turbine-maker Siemens Energy said in a statement that the oil leaks blamed by Gazprom was “not a technical reason for stopping operation”, adding that it was “not contracted for maintenance work.
Such leakages do not usually affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site.
Following the imposition of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has reduced or halted gas supplies to different European nations, causing energy prices to soar. The Kremlin has blamed the sanctions for the reduced supplies.
As winter approaches, European nations have been seeking to completely fill their gas reserves, secure alternative supplies and put into place plans to reduce consumption.
Gazprom announces indefinite shutdown of Nord Stream 1 pipeline
The Russian energy major Gazprom extended the shutdown of gas flows through its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany on Friday evening, providing no timeframe for a reopening.
The move came hours after G7 countries agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil in an attempt to stem the flow of funds to Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Gazprom, the state-owned oil and gas firm, said supplies would remain halted indefinitely after a leak was detected. It said the pipeline would not restart until repairs were fully implemented.
Nord Stream 1 is the single biggest pipeline for gas from Russia to Europe and has the capacity to deliver 55bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year. Continued supplies through the pipeline are seen as crucial to prevent a deepening of the energy crisis.
In a statement on Telegram, Gazprom said:
Gas transportation to the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been completely halted until the complaints on the operation of the equipment have been eliminated.
It said in the social media post it had identified “malfunctions” on a key turbine along the pipeline, which carries natural gas from western Russia to Germany, and that the pipeline would not work unless these were eliminated.
Early on Wednesday, Gazprom completely halted the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1, in line with an earlier announcement, adding that the stoppage would last for three days. Flows were due to resume just after midnight on Saturday morning.
Ukraine exploiting poor leadership in Russian military, says UK
Ukrainian forces have “likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise” with the ongoing counter-offensive, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said.
In its daily intelligence briefing, it said it had done so by taking advantage of “poor logistics, administration and leadership” in Russia’s military.
It said:
Since 29 August 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been conducting renewed offensive operations in the south of Ukraine.
One element of this offensive is an ongoing advance on a broad front west of the Dnipro River, focusing on three axes within Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast.
The operation has limited immediate objectives, but Ukraine’s forces have likely achieved a degree of tactical surprise; exploiting poor logistics, administration and leadership in the Russian armed forces.
With fighting also continuing in the Donbas and Kharkiv sectors, a key decision for Russian commanders in coming days will be where to commit any operational reserve force they can generate.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 3 September 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 3, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/dpJoSbv5jg
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/LZlEVAEHQ2
Updated
Ukraine’s military said it had carried out strikes against Russian positions in the region around the southern town of Enerhodar on Friday, near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant where UN experts are working.
Reuters reports that the revelation by the armed forces’ general staff was unusual because the military rarely gives details of specific targets.
The staff said in a Facebook post:
It has been confirmed that in the region around the towns of Kherson and Enerhodar, precise strikes by our armed forces destroyed three enemy artillery systems as well as a warehouse with ammunition and up to a company of soldiers.
It did not give more details about the strikes.
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is gathering data at the Zaporizhzhia station, on the edge of Russian-occupied Enerhoda, which is about 300km (185 miles) from Kherson.
Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of shelling the nuclear plant, while Kyiv says pro-Moscow forces are responsible for attacking it.
Summary
The Russian energy company Gazprom announced that the Nord Stream pipeline 1 would not restart on schedule on Saturday, citing turbine damage. Gazprom’s CEO, Alexei Miller, indicated Siemens could not carry out repairs because of sanctions. The European Commission chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, said Gazprom was staging the shutdown “under fallacious pretences”. The shutdown of the single biggest pipeline for gas from Russia to Europe will stoke concerns over the reliability of winter energy supplies.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, who returned from a first visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, said six of the team’s experts remained at the site to continue the work. He told reporters the mission would produce a report early next week of its findings. Grossi said military operations were increasing in the region of the plant, “which worries me a lot”. He said the military presence was not available when he asked to speak to them about the control centre, they did not approach his team and they were “withdrawn” throughout their visit to the Russian-controlled facility in south-eastern Ukraine .
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations have announced they plan to implement a price cap on Russian oil. In a statement, the ministers said the cap was designed to reduce “Russia’s ability to fund its war of aggression” and that they would “urgently work on the finalisation and implementation” of the measure, but left out key details of the plan.
Prior to the G7 announcement, the Kremlin said imposing the price cap would trigger Russian retaliation. If G7 leaders went ahead it would lead to significant destabilisation of the global oil market, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukraine’s military has claimed that Russian forces suffered “significant losses” in the southern region of Kherson following Kyiv’s counteroffensive launched earlier this week. Ukraine’s successes have been “quite convincing”, according to a spokesperson for the southern Ukrainian military command, who added that more “positive news” would likely follow “very soon”.
Ukrainian troops have pushed back Russian forces at several points around Kherson, according to western officials. Officials estimate that about 20,000 Russian troops are in the pocket of the southern region, and caution that it is too soon to determine if Ukraine’s counterattack is working.
The “physical integrity” of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been “violated several times”, Rafael Grossi said. The IAEA chief said after leading the inspection team that while he would continue to worry about the plant, the situation was “more predictable” now.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of manipulating and distorting information shared with the IAEA. Ukrainian state-owned operator Energoatom said Russian officials “are making every effort to prevent the IAEA mission from getting to know the real state of affairs. They spread manipulative and false information about this visit.”
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has accused Ukraine of “nuclear terrorism”. Pro-Russian proxy authorities in Zaporizhzhia have accused Kyiv of trying to smuggle “spies” into the IAEA inspection team posing as journalists.
The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, has restated the expansionist military aims of Russia’s invasion. “Our task is to liberate all Russian cities that were founded by Russian people during the time of the Russian Empire, and developed during the Soviet Union thanks to the help of our entire vast country,” Pushilin said. “This is not only the territories of Novorossia [the Donbas], but also much wider. It will not be any other way.”
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the war in Ukraine. That’s a rundown of the latest developments as it approaches 9.30am in Kyiv.
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