A summary of today's developments
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the United Nations must ensure the security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russian forces after meeting the UN secretary general, Antònio Guterres and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Lviv.
Ukraine’s military intelligence believes that Russia is planning a “provocation” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant tomorrow. “The occupiers announced an unexpected ‘day off’ at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. On 19 August, only operative personnel will be at the ZNPP. Entry to all other employees will be closed,” defence intelligence of Ukraine tweeted. Russia has warned it may shut down the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – the largest nuclear reactor in Europe – if Ukraine continues to shell the facility – a claim Kyiv has denied.
Authorities updated the death toll in the Kharkiv attacks that took place last night and this morning, bringing the total number of people killed to 15. Russian missiles that struck a residential area Wednesday night killed 12 while a strike early this morning killed three. Dozens more were injured.
Estonia has been hit by extensive cyber-attacks after removing a Soviet-era tank monument from a region whose population is predominantly ethnic Russian, its government has said.
The Russian military announced today that it has deployed warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s Kaliningrad region, a move that has been broadly interpreted as a response to the West arming Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry updated the number of Russian casualties to at least 44,300. Meanwhile, Mediazona, an independent news organisation in Russia, has delved into the background of some of these deaths. Based on social media confirmation by relatives, reports in local media, and statements by the local authorities, Mediazona was able to confirm 5,185 deaths and found that the disproportionate majority of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine came from poor and minority regions of Russia.
A Russian attack killed one person and injured two in Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine, said the Mykolaiv mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.
Ukraine’s military intelligence has warned that Russian forces are preparing to stage a “provocation” at a nuclear power plant they control, as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for an urgent withdrawal of military forces and equipment from the site.
Guterres, on his second visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, joined the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for meetings and then a press conference in the western city of Lviv.
“We are worried. We don’t want another Chernobyl,” Erdoğan said.
Zelenskiy said he agreed with Guterres on a framework for a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. It was taken over by Russian forces in March but is still being run by Ukrainians.
