Closing summary
It’s nearly 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Residents near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have reportedly been given iodine tablets, amid mounting fears that the fighting around the complex could trigger a catastrophe. It comes after the plant, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, was temporarily disconnected from Ukraine’s national grid after all lines to it were cut on Thursday.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster” on Thursday when electricity to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was cut for hours after fires broke out around the plant. The Ukrainian president praised the Ukrainian technicians who operated the plant under the gaze of the Russian military.
By Friday afternoon, Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, said one of the two working reactors had been reconnected to the grid. The one reactor is building up capacity, the agency said, thanking the plant’s working for “tirelessly and firmly” keeping “the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the whole of Europe on their shoulders”.
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog are poised to make an emergency visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports. Sources have told the Wall Street Journal that it is “almost certain” that a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit the plant early next week, although details are still being completed.
EU energy ministers will gather for an urgent meeting as soon as possible to discuss the current energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Czech prime minister said. The Czech Republic currently holds the presidency of the European Council.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has announced plans to expand mandatory evacuations for civilians living on the war’s front lines. Speaking on national television, Vereshchuk said evacuating women with children and elderly people would be a priority from some districts of the eastern Kharkiv region and the southern Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions.
Ukrainian forces have struck an important bridge used by Russian occupying forces in the southern Kherson region, according to Ukraine’s southern military command. The Daryivskiy bridge is the only Russian-controlled crossing across the Inhulets river, which splits the Russian-occupied land west of the Dnipro into two parts.
Russia’s claim that it is deliberately slowing the pace of its military campaign in Ukraine is “almost certainly deliberate misinformation”, according to British intelligence. The latest UK Ministry of Defence report said Russia’s offensive has stalled “because of poor Russian military performance and fierce Ukrainian resistance”.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has said his country’s SU-24 warplanes have been re-fitted to carry nuclear armaments. Lukashenko said he had previously agreed the move with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and warned that his country is ready to respond to “serious provocation” from the west instantly.
Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas that it would previously have exported to Germany while energy costs soar in Europe, the BBC has reported. According to the broadcaster, which cites an analysis by Rystad Energy, a plant near Russia’s border with Finland is burning an estimated £8.4m-worth of gas every day.
The head of the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has blamed Russia for driving up energy prices, resulting in the UK price cap rising by 80%. Ofgem on Friday approved the £1,578 increase on the current price cap of £1,971 for the average dual-fuel tariff.
The German ambassador to the UK has acknowledged that there is a risk that public support for Ukraine could wane this winter as the energy crisis intensifies. Vladimir Putin is “using gas as a weapon” in the UK and all of Europe, Miguel Berger said. “He wants to test our resolve”.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war blog today. As always, thank you for reading.
Ukrainian forces have struck an important bridge used by Russian occupying forces in the southern Kherson region, according to Ukraine’s southern military command.
The southern command said in a statement:
Rocket artillery units continued to conduct missions, including ensuring control over the Daryivskiy bridge. Its operation is currently halted.
The Daryivskiy bridge is the only Russian-controlled crossing across the Inhulets river, which splits the Russian-occupied land west of the Dnipro into two parts, Reuters reports.
Iodine tablets distributed near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant amid fears of radiation leak
Residents near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have reportedly been given iodine tablets, amid mounting fears that the fighting around the complex could trigger a catastrophe.
Associated Press reports that the iodine tablets were issued in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, about 45 kilometres (27 miles) from the plant. Among those who received the pills were a woman and her small daughter, it writes.
It comes after the plant, Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, was temporarily disconnected from Ukraine’s national grid after all lines to it were cut on Thursday. On Friday morning, Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, said efforts were still under way to link it back to the Ukrainian grid before announcing success in the early afternoon with the connection of one of its six reactors.
The situation however remains fragile as fighting continues around the plant, with satellite images showing fires around the complex over the last few days.
UN 'almost certain' to visit Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant early next week – report
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog are poised to make an emergency visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, according to reports.
Sources have told the Wall Street Journal that it is “almost certain” that a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit the plant early next week, although details are still being completed.
“Frantic preparations” were underway after a breakthrough in negotiation over access, a person familiar with the matter told the paper.
The IAEA team could bring spare parts, radiation-monitoring devices and other vital materials to the plant after it was disconnected for the first time in history.
It comes a day after the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said the watchdog was “very, very close” to being able to go to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The WSJ reports that Russia’s opposition to the IAEA’s visit has allegedly softened, allowing Grossi to lead a delegation that will travel to the plant across Ukrainian territory and spend at least one night at the facility.
The mission will seek to assess the safety of the plant and address any security problems that have emerged during the fighting.
Updated
Boris Johnson has condemned Russia’s “cultural vandalism” in Ukraine and vowed that the UK will fund “cultural protection measures” as well as continue to donate civil and military aid to the country.
Russian troops are trying to erase Ukrainian culture in areas they have taken over, the British prime minister said in a video message to the Edinburgh International Culture Summit.
Johnson said:
Throughout history, we’ve seen what happens when aggressors try to oppress and to eliminate culture. We saw it with the Nazis in the Second World War, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the Taliban in Afghanistan. Today, the world is once again witnessing unforgivable acts of cultural vandalism, this time in Ukraine.
He accused the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of “systematically erasing all traces of the centuries-old Ukrainian culture from the territory his troops occupy”.
The UK will fund “cultural heritage protection measures” as well as military and humanitarian aid, he said.
Mandatory evacuations for civilians from parts of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv regions, says Ukraine's deputy PM
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, has announced plans to expand mandatory evacuations for civilians living on the war’s front lines, Reuters reports.
Speaking on national television, Vereshchuk said evacuating women with children and elderly people would be a priority from some districts of the eastern Kharkiv region and the southern Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv regions.
She said:
I’m not talking about the entire regions, but some parts will require mandatory evacuation and we are preparing for it.
She urged residents not to resist and warned they also faced the threat of Russian occupation, adding:
If they stay there, people will suffer, especially children.
In July, the Ukrainian government launched a campaign of mandatory evacuations for people in the eastern Donetsk region that it began implementing this month. Ukrainian-controlled districts and towns in the industrial east are under constant shelling from Russian and pro-Russian forces.
Vereshchuk said:
I know very well what the enemy can do to force people to collaborate. That’s why I call on people to evacuate so often and not to hope for the enemy to show mercy and … to follow international humanitarian law. This will not happen.
Updated
EU to convene ‘urgent’ talks over 'energy war' with Russia
EU energy ministers will gather for an urgent meeting as soon as possible to discuss the current energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Czech prime minister said.
The Czech presidency “will convene an urgent meeting of energy ministers to discuss specific emergency measures to address the energy situation,” its prime minister, Petr Fiala, announced.
.@EU2022_CZ will convene an urgent meeting of Energy Ministers to discuss specific emergency measures to address the energy situation.
— Petr Fiala (@P_Fiala) August 26, 2022
The Czech Republic currently holds the presidency of the European Council. The country’s minister of industry and trade, Jozef Síkela, earlier tweeted:
We are in an energy war with Russia and it is damaging the whole European Union.
We are in an energy war with Russia and it is damaging the whole 🇪🇺. In agreement with the European Commission and Prime Minister @P_Fiala, I will propose to convene an extraordinary meeting of the EU Energy Council at the earliest possible date.
— Jozef Síkela (@JozefSikela) August 26, 2022
Summary of the day so far
It’s just past 5:15pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster” on Thursday when electricity to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was cut for hours after fires broke out around the plant. Back-up diesel generators ensured power supply that was vital for cooling and safety systems at the plant, the Ukrainian president said, praising the Ukrainian technicians who operated the plant under the gaze of the Russian military.
By Friday afternoon, Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, said one of the two working reactors had been reconnected to the grid. The one reactor is building up capacity, the agency said, thanking the plant’s working for “tirelessly and firmly” keeping “the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the whole of Europe on their shoulders”.
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, has said the UN nuclear watchdog could travel to the Zaporizhzhia plant in the “coming days”. The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, earlier said his team were “very, very close” to being able to go to the plant.
Russia’s claim that it is deliberately slowing the pace of its military campaign in Ukraine is “almost certainly deliberate misinformation”, according to British intelligence. The latest UK Ministry of Defence report said Russia’s offensive has stalled “because of poor Russian military performance and fierce Ukrainian resistance”.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has said his country’s SU-24 warplanes have been re-fitted to carry nuclear armaments. Lukashenko said he had previously agreed the move with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and warned that his country is ready to respond to “serious provocation” from the west instantly.
Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas that it would previously have exported to Germany while energy costs soar in Europe, the BBC has reported. According to the broadcaster, which cites an analysis by Rystad Energy, a plant near Russia’s border with Finland is burning an estimated £8.4m-worth of gas every day.
The head of the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has blamed Russia for driving up energy prices, resulting in the UK price cap rising by 80%. Ofgem on Friday approved the £1,578 increase on the current price cap of £1,971 for the average dual-fuel tariff.
The German ambassador to the UK has acknowledged that there is a risk that public support for Ukraine could wane this winter as the energy crisis intensifies. Vladimir Putin is “using gas as a weapon” in the UK and all of Europe, Miguel Berger said. “He wants to test our resolve”.
Good afternoon from London, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still here to bring you all the latest from Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
An ONS survey has suggested that many Ukrainians who have come to the UK are struggling to find work because their qualifications are not recognised and due to language difficulties.
PA Media reports:
Most who have fled the war in their homeland to come to Britain do not know how to access benefits or alter their visas now they have arrived, the findings also indicate, as well as revealing how some feel nervous, anxious or depressed.
Experimental research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) questioned a sample of adults who had arrived in the UK by mid-April under Ukraine visa schemes.
Some 1,132 people took part in the online survey between July 20 and August 4, which was a follow-up questionnaire to the first of its kind carried out earlier this year.
The majority of respondents (93%) were still in the UK but 7% had left since April and the results were based on those who remained in the country at the time of the latest survey.
Hugh Stickland, from the ONS, said: “More Ukrainian nationals have now had time to find work since they first arrived in the UK.
“However, while a majority of those that aren’t working said they are likely or very likely to look for work, many are struggling to find work due to their qualifications gained abroad not being recognised by UK employers or who are struggling with the English language requirements.”
The proportion of Ukrainian nationals employed in the UK has increased to 42% since the first survey and more respondents than before (37%) said they had enough money to support themselves for the next three months.
But almost half of the people who took part in the survey (47%) had “experienced some barriers to being able to take up work in the UK”, with the most common reason being because English language skills were not meeting the job requirements (58%).Over half (51%) of respondents, however, indicated they could speak English well or very well. For reading and writing, this was 63% and 51%, respectively.
Of those with a qualification gained outside the UK, 43% indicated that UK employers had generally not recognised their qualifications when applying for jobs.
According to the findings, most respondents said they did not understand very well or at all well how to apply to extend or change their visa (69%), or what state benefits they may be eligible for (58%).
Around one in five (21%) respondents reported feeling nervous, anxious or on edge for more than half the days or nearly every day in the fortnight before filling out the survey.
Some 16% reported feeling down, depressed or hopeless for more than half the days or nearly every day in that period.
Updated
Nuclear plant has resumed supplying electricity to Ukraine
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russia, resumed electricity supplies to Ukraine on Friday after one of its six reactors was reconnected to the Ukrainian grid, state nuclear company Energoatom said.
Reuters reports:
More than 18,000 people in 72 settlements in Zaporizhzhia region were without electricity as of Friday due to damage caused to powers lines, the regional administration said, without specifying which lines it was talking about.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said Russian shelling had sparked fires on Thursday in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that disconnected the reactor complex from the power grid. Russia’s defence ministry blamed Ukraine, saying its forces had destroyed the Ukrainian gun responsible.
Updated
Workers at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine have been hailed as “heroes” after Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was disconnected from the country’s power grid for the first time in its history.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, has now said one of the two working reactors had been reconnected to the grid.
An administrative worker at the plant told CNN earlier today that “everything is already ok”.
The plant employee, who has not been named, said:
Yesterday there was no electricity, no water, nothing. But everything is already ok, the men [operational staff] at the NPP [Nuclear Power Plant] are just smarties and heroes.
They added that with “shelling around the station and the city, smoke from fires, dust from the ash dump of a thermal power plant”, that the “situation sometimes looks like the end of the world” at the plant.
A group of lawmakers from Germany’s Social Democratic party (SPD) are calling for peace negotiations with Russia and for a ceasefire to be reached in Ukraine as soon as possible.
In a letter entitled “The guns must be silent!” seen by Der Spiegel, the group representing the pacifist left-wing of the SPD urged for a diplomatic offensive to end the war in Ukraine quickly.
They called for a new attempt at a “modus vivendi”, in which conflicting parties agree to coexist in peace, arguing that such a relationship “must be found with the Russian government based on the acknowledgment of realities that one does not like, which rules out a further escalation of the war”.
The group propose China act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, oppose rearmament plans and warned against the delivery of heavy military equipment to Ukraine, citing the danger of nuclear war.
The letter reads:
With every delivery of weapons, it is important to carefully weigh up and consider where the ‘red line’ lies, which could be perceived as entering the war and provoke corresponding reactions.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant reconnected to Ukraine’s grid, says operator
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the grid, according to the country’s state nuclear company.
Energoatom said one reactor at the plant has been reconnected to the grid and that it was building up capacity, Reuters reports.
In a statement, the company said:
Today … at 14:04, one of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s power units that shut down yesterday was connected to the power grid.
Ukraine’s nuclear company thanked the workers at the plant, saying:
They tirelessly and firmly hold the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the whole of Europe on their shoulders and work selflessly so that their native country has life-giving electricity.
Updated
Updated
Representatives from Turkey, Finland and Sweden are expected to meet in Finland today to discuss Turkish concerns about the Nordic pair’s Nato accession, Reuters reports.
Finland’s foreign ministry remained tight-lipped about the meeting, refusing to provide details about its location or timing.
Speaking to the public broadcaster YLE, Finland’s foreign ministry state secretary, Jukka Salovaara, said:
This is a matter of security. If we would tell where Turkey’s high officials are at which time, it would give quite a careless picture of us.
Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, had earlier said that the first meeting between officials would aim to establish contacts and set goals for cooperation that the three countries had agreed to at Nato’s Madrid summit earlier this year.
In June, on the eve of the alliance’s summit in Madrid, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, agreed to lift deal-breaking objections to Sweden and Finland’s Nato accession.
A trilateral deal was reached between Erdoğan, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and the Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, who signed a memorandum that addressed Turkey’s concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism.
Updated
Belarusian planes ready to carry nuclear weapons, says President Lukashenko
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has said his country’s SU-24 warplanes have been re-fitted to carry nuclear armaments.
According to the Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta, Lukashenko said he had previously agreed the move with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Belarus is ready to respond to “serious provocation” from the west instantly, Lukashenko warned.
He said:
If god forbid some serious provocation against Belarus happens, our targets have been locked in. Decision-making centers. We know them.
Relations with Belarus “must not be aggravated because it also means aggravating relations with the Union State of Belarus and Russia that has nuclear weapons”, he said.
He added:
If they start making problems, Belarus may be worse off but the answer will be instantaneous.
Belarus does not have its own nuclear weapons but is an ally of Russia and has allowed its territory to be used for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again to bring you all the latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Summary
Whether you’re just joining us or need a quick refresher on today’s developments, here’s a quick round-up:
Shelling temporarily disconnected the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from Ukraine’s grid. Fires caused by shelling cut the last remaining power line to the Russian-held plant on Thursday, temporarily disconnecting it from Ukraine’s national grid for the first time in nearly 40 years of operation, the country’s nuclear power firm, Energoatom, said.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the world narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster” as the last regular line supplying electricity to the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine was restored hours after being cut by shelling.
Ukraine has begun trying to restart operations at two reactors at Zaporizhzhia, Reuters reports, citing comments by regional governor Oleksandr Starukh.
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, said the UN nuclear watchdog could travel to the Zaporizhzhia plant in the “coming days”. The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, earlier said his team were “very, very close” to being able to go to the plant.
The White House called on Russia to agree to a demilitarised zone around the plant, after the US president, Joe Biden, spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas that it would previously have exported to Germany while energy costs soar in Europe, the BBC has reported. According to the broadcaster, which cites an analysis by Rystad Energy, a plant near Russia’s border with Finland is burning an estimated £8.4m-worth of gas every day.
The head of the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has blamed Russia for driving up energy prices, resulting in the UK price cap rising by 80%. Ofgem on Friday approved the £1,578 increase on the current price cap of £1,971 for the average dual-fuel tariff.
Updated
Ukraine has begun trying to restart operations at two reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, Reuters reports, citing comments by regional governor Oleksandr Starukh.
The plant’s sixth reactor is operating at 10% capacity, while the fifth reactor is in the process of resuming operations, he said in televised comments.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, said the plant’s own needs were being supplied through a power line from Ukraine’s electricity system after it was disconnected from the grid when fires broke out around the plant on Thursday.
Updated
Turkey’s finance minister has told businesses they should not be worried by threats of sanctions that the US has said will follow if they trade with sanctioned Russians.
US deputy secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo told Turkish banks and companies in a letter that they would face secondary sanctions if they worked with sanctioned Russians.
In comments representing Turkey’s first official response, Nureddin Nebati tweeted that the letter should not “cause concern in our business circles. Turkey is one of the most important political and economic power centres in the world”.
The Nato member has tried to stay neutral in the war and refused to join the international sanctions.
Nebati said Turkey was “determined to develop our commercial relations with our neighbours in various sectors – especially tourism – within a framework that is not subject to sanctions”.
Türk iş dünyası örgütlerine iletilen mektubun iş çevrelerimizde bir endişe yaratması anlamsızdır. Türkiye dünyanın en önemli siyasi ve ekonomik güç merkezlerinden biridir. İş dünyamız devletinin gücünü her zaman yanında hissetmelidir.
— Dr.Nureddin NEBATİ🇹🇷 (@NureddinNebati) August 26, 2022
Updated
'There is a risk' European support for Ukraine could fall amid energy crisis, German ambassador says
The German ambassador to the UK has acknowledged that there is a risk that public support for Ukraine could wane this winter as the energy crisis intensifies.
Asked if Germany was worried that political support for Ukraine would decline amid tough conditions in winter, Miguel Berger said:
I think this is the same challenge here in the UK, for France, for all of Europe. The way Putin is using gas as a weapon and putting pressure on our societies – he wants to test our resolve. Obviously it will depend a lot on the relief packages of our governments.
He said the German government has started early, giving grants to companies, direct payments to households, and discussions with trade unions and employers. But he acknowledged that “there is a risk” that support would wane.
Updated
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant still disconnected amid increasing concern over safety
My colleagues Isobel Koshiw and Emma Graham-Harrison in Kyiv have more on the ongoing concern about the nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia:
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is still disconnected from the grid after fires broke out around the plant on Thursday. Ukrainian authorities and international experts are increasingly warning that there may be a nuclear catastrophe unless fighting around the plant desists.
Problems with the electricity supply to the plant appear to be unresolved as of this morning. The plant was disconnected twice on Thursday when the blaze affected the fourth and last connection into the plant’s reactors. Three other lines had already been taken out because of the war.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, said that work was under way to restore the plant’s connection to the grid and the plant’s own needs were being supplied through a power line from Ukraine’s electricity system.
Energoatom said it could not comment on Friday on the security systems or the operations of the equipment. On Thursday, it said they had information that they were working normally.
The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, relies on electricity to keep its reactors cool. During an outage, the plant still received supplies of electricity from one remaining backup line connected to the nearby conventional power plant, Energoatom said. There were three of these lines before the war, but two have been cut.
If all external connections go down, it must rely on diesel-fuelled generators for power. If they break down, engineers only have 90 minutes to stave off dangerous overheating.
Satellite images published by Ukraine’s Radio Liberty show plumes of smoke rising up near the plant.
Updated
Germans must start saving energy now in order to prepare for gas shortages this winter, the UK ambassador to the country has said.
Asked about whether it is wise to look for new energy deals with “autocratic leaders”, Miguel Berger said: “There is no other option but to look elsewhere, but at the same time we try to speed up as much as possible the energy transition – currently half of our electricity comes from renewable energy but obviously this is not a short-term solution. That’s why we have a discussion on nuclear and we have a discussion on reconnecting – only as a very temporary measure – some coal plants.”
He said government measures such as lowering temperatures in office buildings and banning heated pools “should give an example to people that they have to take the measures to save energy”. “There is no way around, half of our heating in Germany is from gas. The best way to have gas for the winter is to start saving it as early as possible.”
Updated
Germany is facing similar challenges to the UK as Vladimir Putin “tests the resolve” of western nations, Germany’s ambassador to the UK has said.
Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas that it would previously have exported to Germany amid soaring energy costs, the BBC has reported.
Speaking to the Today programme, Miguel Berger said: “We have been observing these flares for quite a while it shows the measures we have taken so far which means we have reduced gas consumption from Russia from over 50% to about 10% is having a strong economy, because they don’t have other places where they can sell their gas so they have to burn it.”
Asked about the environmental implications of a temporary shift to coal, Berger said: “We are speaking here about absolute emergency measures – let me say that the challenges you have been describing, with the increase of the price cap [in the UK] is very similar to what we have in Germany, we are all facing the same challenges. We should not forget that Putin is really testing the resolve of western countries.”
Updated
The head of the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has blamed Russia for driving up energy prices, resulting in the UK price cap rising by 80%.
Ofgem on Friday approved the £1,578 increase on the current price cap of £1,971 for the average dual-fuel tariff. The new cap will be introduced in October, and comes after the price cap was increased in April from £1,277 to £1,971.
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley explains why the energy price is being increased to £3,549 - telling @AnnaJonesSky that the "slow and deliberate" cut off of gas by Russia to Europe "made prices spike much further".
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 26, 2022
Latest: https://t.co/2ptzGrMHLU
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/EcaMBFsrUu
Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley told Sky News: “This year … we have seen the slow and deliberate cut-off of gas by Russia to the European market, and that has made prices spike, much, much further.”
He said this came after economies grew post-Covid, particularly in Asia, putting pressure on the gas market.
The Ofgem boss said winter gas prices were 15 times higher than usual, and were equivalent to paying £400 to £500 to fill up a car with petrol.
Updated
Russia is burning vast quantities of gas as energy costs skyrocket
Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas that it would previously have exported to Germany while energy costs soar in Europe, the BBC has reported.
According to BBC News, which cites an analysis by Rystad Energy, a plant near Russia’s border with Finland is burning an estimated £8.4m-worth of gas every day.
Scientists are concerned about the quantities of carbon dioxide and soot the new liquified natural gas (LNG) plant at Portovaya, north-west of St Petersburg, is creating. The plant is near a compressor station at the start of the Nordstream 1 pipeline, which transports gas to Germany.
Finnish citizens reported seeing a large flame earlier this summer, and researchers have reported a significant increase in heat coming from the facility. While gas flaring is a normal process used in industry, the scale at which gas is being burned at the plant was unprecedented, researchers said.
“I’ve never seen an LNG plant flare so much,” Dr Jessica McCarty, an expert on satellite data from Miami University in Ohio, told the broadcaster. “Starting around June, we saw this huge peak, and it just didn’t go away. It’s stayed very anomalously high.”
Updated
All reactors of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant still disconnected, say officials
All six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine are still disconnected from Ukraine’s electricity grid, Reuters reports, citing state nuclear company Energoatom.
However, the company said there were currently no issues with the plant’s machinery or its safety systems.
Energoatom said electricity for the plant’s own needs was being supplied through a power line from Ukraine’s electricity system.
It comes after fires, caused by shelling, cut the last remaining power line to the plant on Thursday, temporarily disconnecting it from Ukraine’s national grid for the first time in nearly 40 years of operation.
Updated
Blackmail is the “hallmark of modern Russia”, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence ministry has said, describing Moscow’s leveraging of energy and nuclear power.
Speaking about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which normally supplies Ukraine with a fifth of its energy, Yuriy Sak said: “Russia is using the tactics of blackmailing Ukraine as well as other international partners of Ukraine into trying to negotiate some favourable deals in the future. The tactics of blackmail – nuclear blackmail, energy blackmail – these are the hallmarks of the Russian of the modern Russia.
“We understand it very well and we hope that the international community will stand firm in not budging to the Russian tactic of blackmailing.”
Updated
Russian soldiers must leave nuclear plant to guarantee its safety, says Ukraine military adviser
Russian soldiers must leave the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in order to guarantee safety, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister has said.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Yuriy Sak said that since the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was captured by Russian soldiers in March, it has been controlled by them but run by Ukrainian personnel. “Our personnel is trying everything they can in the circumstances to ensure it functions uninterruptedly … The power plant poses a risk to the whole of Europe.”
Asked about updates on whether Russia will allow international inspectors on to the plant site, he said: “We have claims by the Russian side that they will allow this inspection – we hope that they honour that commitment but the ultimate solution is not just admitting the inspection … the ultimate solution is the complete demilitarisation of the nuclear plant, [and] making sure that the Russian soldiers leave Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This will be the only guarantee that nothing major happens.”
Russia blames the Ukrainian military for strikes in the area.
Updated
Switzerland is bracing for power shortages this winter due to its reliance on Russian gas and French nuclear power, AFP reports.
The country relies on hydropower in the summer months but turns to imports at other times. With Russia slashing gas deliveries, Switzerland is particularly vulnerable as it lacks its own gas storage installations.
Exacerbating the issue, France has been forced to halt production at half of its reactors, mainly due to corrosion problems.
The Swiss government but has said it is readying the country for power shortages, with the head of the federal electricity commission, Werner Luginbuhl, warning of repeated, hours-long power cuts.
Updated
Hello, I’m Clea Skopeliti and I’ll be bringing you the latest developments from the war in Ukraine for the next few hours.
You can reach me via email, or send me a DM on Twitter, when I’m @cleaskopeliti.
It’s 9.15am in Kyiv.
Updated
Navalny ex-staffer tells of being FSB informer
When Mikhail Sokolov signed up to work for the FSB security services, he never imagined his journey would end here: in a crowded refugee camp on the outskirts of a sleepy town in the rural Netherlands.
“The last six years were a rollercoaster. I am happy I am no longer in the claws of the FSB,” the former FSB informant and staffer for the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption network said in an interview with the Guardian this week.
The 25-year-old is now living in a crowded dormitory, shunned by fellow activists, while being trolled online by his former FSB handlers.
Sokolov’s story shines a rare light on the inner workings of Moscow’s secretive security services and their attempts to infiltrate the Russian opposition at home and abroad.
He is part of what appears to be a trend of ex-FSB informers coming clean after Moscow’s decision to invade Ukraine.
“I am convinced there were hundreds of us,” Sokolov said, sitting at a cafe near the refugee centre in the south of the Netherlands. “Nearly every organised opposition group had an informer at low or mid-level.”
Read the full story below.
Kyiv renames nearly 100 streets to shed Russian past
Ukraine’s capital renamed 95 streets on Thursday as part of a drive to purge Russian and Soviet place names, Kyiv’s mayor announced a day after Ukraine marked 31 years of independence.
Since Russia invaded in February, Ukraine has accelerated what it calls “derussification”, a campaign to shed the legacy of hundreds of years of rule by Moscow.
Kyiv mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, said:
[The new names] should perpetuate the memory of significant historical events of Ukraine, as well as famous figures and heroes who glorified Ukraine and fought for the independence of our state.”
One street was named after London while another was dubbed “Ukrainian rebirth street.”
Another street, previously bearing the surname of a Soviet defence minister, was renamed after Ukraine’s Azov regiment.
Russia’s claim that it is deliberately slowing the pace of its military campaign in Ukraine is “almost certainly deliberate misinformation”, according to British intelligence.
Earlier in the week, the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, told the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that Russia was slowing its campaign to reduce casualties.
It is also highly likely that Shoigu and Russian president Vladimir Putin have fired at least six generals for not advancing quickly enough, the latest UK Ministry of Defence report reads.
Russia’s offensive has stalled because of poor Russian military performance and fierce Ukrainian resistance. Under Shoigu’s orders, the forces operating in Ukraine have repeatedly missed planned operational timelines.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 26 August 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 26, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/InVVkio2XL
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/OvxTQAfC32
Updated
Report identifies 21 'filtration' locations in Ukraine run by Russia
Russia and its proxy forces in Ukraine are operating 21 locations used to detain, interrogate and process prisoners of war and civilians, according to a new report by Yale University researchers backed by the US state department.
The Conflict Observatory report cites commercial satellite imagery and open-source information to identify with ‘high confidence’ the separate locations - including facilities that previously served as schools, markets and regular prisons. It also identifies possible graves at one prison complex.
A Conflict Observatory hub that analyses evidence of Russian war crimes released a report on Thursday which they say provides proof of forced deportation and filtration camps in Ukraine.
The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health that produced the report is a partner in a US state department-funded Conflict Observatory launched in May to capture and analyse evidence of war crimes and other atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine.
Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said the findings showed Russia and its proxies had established a “system of filtration” to sort people in areas that fall under Russian occupation that represents a “human rights emergency.”
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of deporting hundreds of thousands of people from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
Thursday’s report focused on Donetsk region, where Russia and its proxy the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic took control of most of the city of Mariupol in March. The city’s mayor said in April that about 40,000 civilians from the city had been forcibly moved into Russian-controlled territory or taken to Russia.
The report identified a system that brings in civilians in conflict-affected areas, puts them through registration and interrogation before they are either released, kept in detention, or transported to Russia.
Updated
Outgoing British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has reportedly received a discount card for any future trips taken on Ukrainian trains.
A photo of Johnson shared by Ukrainian media outlets shows the PM holding a loyalty card “Ukrzaliznytsia” number 001.
Boris Johnson received a discount on trips by Ukrainian trains
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 25, 2022
He posted a photo with a loyalty card "Ukrzaliznytsia" number 001. It was sent to him by the company itself.
But there is one nuance: Johnson is only owner of the card. The carrier has not launched the program yet. pic.twitter.com/YvDGALlsdq
UN to visit Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Negotiations are under way for the UN’s nuclear watchdog to visit the site, and Ukraine’s top nuclear official told the Guardian that IAEA inspectors could arrive by the end of the month.
The IAEA said Ukraine had informed it the plant temporarily lost connection, “further underlining the urgent need for an IAEA expert mission to travel to the facility”.
We can’t afford to lose any more time. I’m determined to personally lead an IAEA mission to the plant in the next few days,” the organisation’s director general, Rafael Grossi, said.
Zelenskiy also urged:
The IAEA and other international organisations must act much faster than they’re acting now. Because every minute the Russian troops stay at the nuclear power plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster.”
At least 25 people have been confirmed dead after a Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station.
Russian forces attacked a train in the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk oblast on Wednesday.
The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.
Updated
US condemns Russia for turning site into ‘active war zone’
The US has condemned any Russian bid to divert energy from Ukraine where authorities said the vast Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was cut off from its national grid.
State department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters:
The electricity that it produces rightly belongs to Ukraine and any attempt to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian power grid and redirect to occupied areas is unacceptable.
No country should turn a nuclear power plant into an active war zone and we oppose any Russian efforts to weaponise or divert energy from the plant.”
Ukraine earlier said that Zaporizhzhia - the largest nuclear facility in Europe - for the first time was severed form its national grid after fighting around the complex.
President Joe Biden, in a telephone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called for Russia to return full control of the plant and let in UN nuclear inspectors, the White House said.
Bonnie Jenkins, the under secretary of state for arms control, said Moscow bore responsibility for the plant’s safety.
“Their actions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have created a serious risk of a nuclear incident - a dangerous radiation release - that could threaten not only the people and environment of Ukraine but also affect neighbouring countries and the entire international community,” Jenkins told reporters.
“The risk of radiation release could be all but eliminated if Russia returns control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant back to Ukraine and fully withdraws from Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” she said.
Zelenskiy says world narrowly avoided a 'radiation disaster'
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world narrowly avoided a “radiation disaster” as the last regular line supplying electricity to Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was restored hours after being cut by shelling.
The Ukranian president said officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, must be given urgent access to the site.
Zelenskiy blamed shelling on Thursday by Russia’s military for fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that disconnected the reactor complex, Europe’s largest such facility, from the power grid. He said back-up diesel generators ensured power supply and kept the plant safe.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday evening, he said:
Today, for the first time in history, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant stopped. The emergency protection of the power units worked - after the last working line of the plant’s power return to the Ukrainian power system was damaged by Russian shelling.
If our station staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident.
Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.”
IAEA officials should be given access to the site within days, he said, “before the occupiers take the situation to the point of no return”.
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
It is 7.30am in Kyiv. Here is where we stand:
Shelling temporarily disconnected the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant from Ukraine’s grid. Fires caused by shelling cut the last remaining power line to the plant on Thursday, temporarily disconnecting it from Ukraine’s national grid for the first time in nearly 40 years of operation, the country’s nuclear power firm, Energoatom, said.
Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, said the UN nuclear watchdog could travel to the Zaporizhzhia plant in the “coming days”. The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, earlier said his team were “very, very close” to being able to go to the plant.
The White House called on Russia to agree to a demilitarised zone around the plant, after the US president, Joe Biden, spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Biden congratulated him on the country’s 31st independence day, celebrated on Wednesday. Zelenskiy said he had “a great conversation” and thanked Biden for his “unwavering” support. It comes a day after Biden announced nearly $3bn in new military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defences and radar equipment, the biggest tranche of US military aid to date.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month with no signs of abating. The Russian president’s decree appears to point to the country’s aim to replenish its military, which has been heavily damaged in Ukraine and has failed to achieve its objective to capture the capital, Kyiv.
At least 25 people have been confirmed dead after a Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station. Russian forces attacked a train in the village of Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk oblast on Wednesday. The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.
The mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has said a building allegedly used by Russian-backed officials in the region has been “blown up”. Fedorov, who is not in the city, posted a video reportedly showing damage to the building, which he said was being used to plan a “pseudo-referendum” by Russia-backed authorities on whether the region should join Russia.
