Closing summary
It is 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Ukrainian forces have had “successes” in three areas of the Russian-occupied region of Kherson, according to a Ukrainian regional official. Yuriy Sobolevskyi, the deputy head of Kherson’s regional council, said Ukrainian troops had enjoyed successes in the Kherson, Beryslav, and Kakhovka districts, without providing details.
Russia’s defence ministry has claimed, however, that Ukraine’s attempts to mount a counter-offensive in the south of the country had failed. In its daily briefing, it said Ukraine’s forces had suffered heavy losses in equipment and men. It has not been possible to independently verify either side’s claims.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of firing on a town near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog were en route to inspect the facility. One of the shells hit the building where Energodar’s city council is located, according to its mayor Dmytro Orlov.
The alleged Russian attack on Energodar occurred hours after a team led by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, set off from Kyiv to visit the Russian-held power plant. The team arrived in the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, 55km (34 miles) away from the plant, on Wednesday afternoon.
IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said his agency will seek to establish a permanent presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to avoid “a nuclear accident” at the facility. He added that the agency’s visit to the plant will last a few days. Russian-installed officials in the area near the power station previously suggested the visit might last only one day.
Russia has the potential to open up a “second theatre of war” should it choose to do so, Germany’s chief of defence has warned. Russia is “very well capable of expanding the conflict regionally” and will not run out of ammunition any time soon, according to Gen Eberhard Zorn, the highest-ranking soldier of the Bundeswehr.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said “heavy fighting” continues in “almost the entire territory” of Kherson. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Natalia Humeniuk, said Ukraine’s forces had succeeded in damaging bridges that join Kherson across the river, rendering them “impassable for heavy machinery”.
Ukraine continues its offensive against Russia’s forces across southern Ukraine, pushing the frontline back “some distance in places”, according to British intelligence. Russia will likely now attempt to plug the gaps in its line using pre-designated mobile reserve units, the latest update by the UK Ministry of Defence said.
Russia has stopped the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe, in a move that has heightened already acute nervousness over the reliability of winter energy supplies. The halt on the Baltic Sea pipeline at 5am on Wednesday would last for three days, Gazprom, the Russian state energy company said, citing the need to carry out repairs.
EU foreign ministers have agreed to fully suspend a visa facilitation agreement with Russia. The move will mean that Russian citizens applying for EU visas will find it more costly and time-consuming. Today’s announcement stops short of a blanket ban of travel visas for Russians which eastern EU states and the Nordic countries were calling for. The move to restrict travel visas for Russians is a step “in the right direction”, Finland’s foreign minister Pekka Haavisto said.
Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have said they are considering barring Russian travellers from entry if the EU fails to do so. The move should contain exceptions “for dissidents as well as other humanitarian cases”, the four countries – which all border Russia – said in a joint statement published before the EU’s visa deal suspension announcement.
The funeral of the Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday aged 91, will take place in Moscow on Saturday, Russian news agencies reported, citing Gorbachev’s daughter and his foundation. The ceremony will be held on 3 September in the Moscow Hall of Columns, the same place where Joseph Stalin’s body was put on display following his death in 1953, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Gorbachev’s daughter Irina.
Vladimir Putin has sent official condolences to the family of Mikhail Gorbachev as the Kremlin broke its silence over the death of the last leader of the Soviet Union. But it has demurred on whether Gorbachev will receive a state funeral or be dealt a final snub by a successor who tore down his legacy.
Germany’s economy ministry has asked the country’s domestic intelligence agency to investigate two senior ministry officials over allegations of spying for Russia. German intelligence services opened an inquiry after senior economy ministry staff shared their concerns when the two civil servants showed “sympathy for the Russian view” on questions of energy policy, according to Die Zeit.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war blog today. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow.
The Biden administration is expected to announce additional security aid for Ukraine shortly, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
Kirby said at a news briefing:
We ... committed more than $13 billion of security assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and we will continue to do that. And there will be announcements of future security assistance in the coming days.
