Summary
It is just after 9pm in Ukraine. Here are some things you might’ve missed:
At least three civilians have been killed in Russian shelling in the eastern region of Donetsk. Thirteen were wounded in artillery barrages from the Russian military, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
Ukraine says it has struck a base used by the Wagner paramilitary group, according to reports. A bridge near the occupied city of Melitopol was also hit, according to reports from AFP.
Five people have been injured in Kharkiv after Russian shelling. Two of them in a serious condition, a top Ukrainian official has said.
Putin says Russia is ready to offer allies in Latin American, Asia and Africa ‘advanced’ weapons.
The UN has said it can facilitate an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit to Ukraine’s damaged Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant if both Russia and Ukraine agree. A total of 42 countries have called on Russia to immediately withdraw military forces from the plant, including the US, Japan and the UK, plus the EU. The IAEA has warned of a possible nuclear disaster unless fighting stops.
On Poland’s Armed Forces Day on Monday, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi released a video statement commemorating the national holiday. In the video, he says, speaking in Polish, “Today, just like 102 years ago, we once again face a centuries-old enemy together” The holiday celebrates the anniversary of the 1920 victory over Soviet Russia at the Battle of Warsaw.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, says Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations. Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the two countries would “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts”, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said that closer ties would be in both countries’ interests, and would help strengthen the security and stability of the Korean peninsula and the north-eastern Asian region, North Korea’s KCNA news agency said.
Kyiv Mayor warns of a cold winter for citizens, due to gas shortages. Former boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said he did not want to reassure residents that “everything will be fine” and that there were “harsh realities” in the country.
That is all from us today. Thanks for reading along, we will be back with the latest Ukraine news tomorrow.
The UN has said it can facilitate IAEA visit to power plant if Russia and Ukraine agree.
The United Nations has the logistics and security capacity to support a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant if both Russia and Ukraine agree, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
The plant, built in the Soviet era, is the largest nuclear reactor in Europe and was damaged by Russian shelling in early August.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has accused the Russians of using the plant as a “nuclear shield”.
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, described the ongoing crisis of safety oversight as a dire threat to public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond, describing the situation as “completely out of control.”
“You have a catalogue of things that should never be happening in any nuclear facility,” he said. While Grossi has suggested a mission to the plant, Ukraine has been blocking the initiative, arguing as recently as June that any visit would legitimise Russia’s presence there.
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
