Closing summary
Russia claims it has tested its ability to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike in an exercise involving the launch of missiles by land, sea and air. News of the exercise was delivered on Russian state TV by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.
The exercise followed Russia’s parliament completing the passing of a law that withdraws Moscow’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, approved the law by 156 votes to zero earlier today after the lower house, the Duma, had also passed it unanimously. Russia says it is revoking its withdrawal of the treaty only to bring itself in line with the US, which signed but never ratified the same document.
An overnight drone attack by Russia near Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant temporarily cut power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. “This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine,” said the IAEA’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi.
In his nightly address, Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of targeting the power plant. “It is most likely that the target for these drones was the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station. The shock wave from the explosion shattered windows, including on the nuclear power station’s premises,” he said.
The attack involved 11 Shahed drones and injured 16 people according to local authorities. Power lines were also damaged, with two towns close to the nuclear power plant, Netishyn and Slavuta, facing power cuts. Ukraine’s air force said it stopped all the drones that were launched.
Earlier today Ukraine said it was aiming to up domestic manufacture of its own drones, producing tens of thousands every month by the end of the year. Kyiv has relied heavily on foreign-made drones in the war so far, but is looking to ramp up its output despite the challenge posed by Russia’s invasion.
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said a Russian drone attack in western Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region last night was likely targeting the area’s nuclear power station, evidence that tougher sanctions on Russia were needed, Reuters reports.
“It is most likely that the target for these drones was the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power station. The shock wave from the explosion shattered windows, including on the nuclear power station’s premises,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
Zelenskiy said every Russian strike, “especially those daring enough to target nuclear power stations and other critical facilities, serves as an argument that pressure on the terrorist state is insufficient”.
The drone attack did not hit the power plant or affect its function, but it did temporarily cut power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations in the area. It also wounded 16 people.
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