Russia-Ukraine war live: International Atomic Energy Agency raises grave concerns over

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Four ships carrying Ukrainian foodstuffs sailed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday as part of a deal to unblock the country’s sea exports, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said.

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The four bulk carriers were loaded with more than 160,000 tonnes of corn and other foodstuffs, Reuters reports.

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The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel are working.

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The United Nations and Turkey brokered the deal last month after UN warnings of possible outbreaks of famine in parts of the world due to a halt in grain shipments from Ukraine that had squeezed supplies and sent prices soaring.

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Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.

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The JCC has authorised the departure of a total of five new vessels through the Black Sea corridor: four vessels outbound from Chornomorsk and Odesa carrying 161,084 metric tonnes of foodstuffs, and one inbound. The first four ships left Ukraine last week under the agreement

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The Ukrainian military said Russian shelling was recorded in dozens of towns along the eastern and southern front lines.

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Reuters reports Ukraine’s military said late on Saturday that Russian forces had shelled dozens of front-line towns and were trying to attack in six different areas in the Donetsk region, all of which failed to gain any territory and were held back by Ukrainian forces. Reuters could not verify either side’s assertions about battlefield developments.

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday said that over the past week its forces had “achieved powerful results” in destroying Russia’s logistics supplies and rear bases.

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He said in a late night address:

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“Every strike on the enemy’s ammunition depots, on their command posts, and on accumulations of Russian equipment saves the lives of all of us, the lives of Ukrainian military and civilians.

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Reuters also reports:

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Russia’s war in Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, with most fighting shifting to a nearly 350-km (217-mile) front stretching southwest from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, British military intelligence said.

North Macedonia has agreed to supply tanks and planes to Ukraine to help fend off Moscow’s ongoing invasion, senior Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said.

The next weapons package to Ukraine from the United States was expected to be $1 billion and include munitions for long-range weapons and armoured medical transport vehicles, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

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Good morning and welcome to the blog, where we start with a round-up of the latest developments.

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The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has raised grave concerns about shelling at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said it had started criminal proceedings against what it said was a rocket and artillery shelling by the Russian military of the Zaporizhzhia power plant on Friday.

The Ukrainian military said Russian shelling was recorded in dozens of towns along the eastern and southern front lines.

The head of Amnesty International’s Ukraine office has quit the human rights body in a disagreement with it after the group accused Ukraine’s armed forces of endangering civilians by basing troops in residential areas during the Russian invasion.

A foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the war started and will be loaded with grain, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said.

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I’m Caroline Davies and will be taking you through other developments throughout the day. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com

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Key events

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for stronger international response to Russia’s “nuclear terror” after reported new shelling at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power plant. During a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel, Zelenskiy called for sanctions to be imposed on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel, the Ukrainian leader wrote on Twitter.

Talked with @eucopresident Charles Michel, told about the situation on the battlefield, in particular at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Russian nuclear terror requires a stronger response from the international community – sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel. (1/2)

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 7, 2022

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Talked with @eucopresident Charles Michel, told about the situation on the battlefield, in particular at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Russian nuclear terror requires a stronger response from the international community – sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel. (1/2)

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 7, 2022

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace today welcomed a decision by Sweden to join countries contributing to the UK-led programme to train Ukrainian personnel in the UK.

Sweden will join the growing list of countries contributing to the UK-led programme to train Ukrainian personnel in the UK, the Swedish Defence Ministry @ForsvarsdepSv announced today 🇸🇪🇬🇧🇺🇦

Defence Secretary @BWallaceMP today welcomed the decision.

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/N3nzCevgWF

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 7, 2022

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More details about the training programme can be found in this report from last month.

Ukraine’s state nuclear power company, Energoatom, said on Sunday that a worker was wounded when Russian forces again reportedly shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, on Saturday evening.

It said on Telegram that the site of the plant’s dry storage facility, where 174 containers with spent nuclear fuel are stored in the open air, was hit by rocket attacks.

Here is the UK’s Ministry of Defence latest intelligence update on Ukraine.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 7 August 2022

Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/Q9m6pBivU7

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/CSsurnK3iR

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 7, 2022

n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1556142982973251584″,”id”:”1556142982973251584″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”425bc2a6-59c2-424c-8e2d-1a518b636f30″}}”/>

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, landed in South Africa on Sunday to kick off a three-nation visit aimed at countering Russian influence on the continent, AFP reports.

The visit come after Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, undertook an extensive tour of Africa late last month.

South Africa has remained neutral in the Ukraine war, refusing to join Western calls to condemn Moscow, which had opposed apartheid before the end of white minority rule in 1994.

Blinken will hold talks on Monday with his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor, and also make an announcement on the US government’s new Africa strategy, Pretoria said in a statement. They will “discuss ongoing and recent developments relating to the global geopolitical situation,” it said.

The state department last month called African countries “geostrategic players and critical partners on the most pressing issues of our day, from promoting an open and stable international system, to tackling the effects of climate change, food insecurity and global pandemics to shaping our technological and economic futures”.

Blinken who is on his second trip to Africa since his appointment early last year, is due to proceed to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda later this week.

This analysis by the Guardian’s Africa correspondent Jason Burke of Lavrov’s tour gives a good insight into the battle for influence on the African continent. You can read it here:

More details on the ships that have left Ukrainian ports. They included Glory, with a cargo of 66,000 tonnes of corn bound for Istanbul, and Riva Wind, loaded with 44,000 tonnes of corn, heading for Turkey’s Iskenderun, the Turkish defence ministry said.

It said the other two vessels to have left Ukraine were Star Helena, with a cargo of 45,000 tonnes of meal heading to China, and Mustafa Necati, carrying 6,000 tonnes of sunflower oil and heading for Italy, Reuters reports.

The JCC also said it was near finalisation of the shipping procedures to regularise operations to support implementation of the grain deal. The procedures were expected to be published early this week, it said.
The first four ships left Ukraine last week under the agreement.
The JCC said it has also authorized the movement, pending inspection, of Osprey S, inbound for Chornomorsk. That ship is currently at anchorage northwest of Istanbul and was to be inspected on Sunday.
On Saturday, the JCC completed the inspection of Navistar, which was cleared to sail, and its joint inspection teams were to continue inspections on Sunday morning of the remaining two vessels that departed Ukrainian ports on Friday.

The first ship to leave a Ukrainian port under the deal will not arrive in Lebanon on Sunday as planned, the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said. The Razoni left Odesa last Monday carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn. The embassy told Reuters the ship was “having a delay” and “not arriving today,” with no details on a new arrival date or the cause of the delay. Shipping data on MarineTraffic.com showed the Razoni off the Turkish coast on Sunday morning.

An official with the Russian occupying authorities in Ukraine’s Kherson region has died after an assassination attempt, local Moscow-backed authorities as saying..

Vitaly Gura, the deputy chief of the Kakhovka district, “died of his injuries”, local official Katerina Gubareva, said on Telegram, AFP reports.

Gura was attacked at home on Saturday morning and was gravely wounded by bullets, a source in the Russian-backed administration is reported to have told TASS news agency.

Kakhovka is about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Kherson city.

Several assassination attempts have been reported against officials in Ukrainian regions seized by Russia since the start of its military operation in Ukraine in February.

Four more ships carrying food leave Black Sea ports

Four ships carrying Ukrainian foodstuffs sailed from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on Sunday as part of a deal to unblock the country’s sea exports, Ukrainian and Turkish officials said.

The four bulk carriers were loaded with more than 160,000 tonnes of corn and other foodstuffs, Reuters reports.

The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel are working.

Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.

Russian shelling reported in dozens of towns

The Ukrainian military said Russian shelling was recorded in dozens of towns along the eastern and southern front lines.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday said that over the past week its forces had “achieved powerful results” in destroying Russia’s logistics supplies and rear bases.

He said in a late night address:

“Every strike on the enemy’s ammunition depots, on their command posts, and on accumulations of Russian equipment saves the lives of all of us, the lives of Ukrainian military and civilians.

Reuters also reports:

Russia’s war in Ukraine is about to enter a new phase, with most fighting shifting to a nearly 350-km (217-mile) front stretching southwest from near Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, British military intelligence said.
North Macedonia has agreed to supply tanks and planes to Ukraine to help fend off Moscow’s ongoing invasion, senior Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said.
The next weapons package to Ukraine from the United States was expected to be $1 billion and include munitions for long-range weapons and armoured medical transport vehicles, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

More on the Zaporizhzhia power plant

Reuters reports:

Shells hit a high-voltage power line at the plant, prompting operators to disconnect a reactor despite no radioactive leak being detected. The plant was captured by Russian forces in early March, but it is still run by its Ukrainian technicians.
Ukraine’s state nuclear power company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage at the power plant.
Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant, saying a leak of radiation had been avoided only by luck.
The United States has accused Russia of using it as a “nuclear shield” while Russia’s defence ministry said damage to the plant had only been avoided thanks to the “skilful, competent and effective actions” of its units.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement on Saturday:

I’m extremely concerned by the shelling yesterday at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster,”

Both sides have accused each other of engaging in “nuclear terrorism”.

IAEA raises concerns over nuclear plant shelling

Caroline Davies

Good morning and welcome to the blog, where we start with a round-up of the latest developments.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has raised grave concerns about shelling at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said it had started criminal proceedings against what it said was a rocket and artillery shelling by the Russian military of the Zaporizhzhia power plant on Friday.
The Ukrainian military said Russian shelling was recorded in dozens of towns along the eastern and southern front lines.
The head of Amnesty International’s Ukraine office has quit the human rights body in a disagreement with it after the group accused Ukraine’s armed forces of endangering civilians by basing troops in residential areas during the Russian invasion.
A foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine on Saturday for the first time since the war started and will be loaded with grain, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said.

I’m Caroline Davies and will be taking you through other developments throughout the day. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com

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