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A photo published by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a side of the destruction.
Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency, Enerhoatum, says the Russians are “blackmailing the whole world” with their threats to blow up the Zaporizhia power plant.
And the agency adds in a post on the Telegram app that Major General Valery Vasiliev, commander of the radiological, chemical and biological defense forces of Russia – said, “There will be either Russian land or a burning desert.”
“We have mined all the important facilities at the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia,” Vasiliev said, according to the agency.
Russia, in turn, accuses Ukraine of bombing the reactor. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the West should push Kyiv to stop its “extremely dangerous” bombing, according to Archyde.com.
“We expect countries that have absolute influence on the Ukrainian leadership to use this influence in order to rule out the continuation of this bombing,” Peskov was quoted as saying by the agency.
The BBC has not been able to verify both sides’ allegations.
Target the West “destroy Russia“
Dmitry Medvedev, one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, says “peace on our terms” is the goal of Russia’s war in Ukraine – or “special military operation”, as Moscow describes it.
Medvedev, the former president of Russia, is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council.
Medvedev tells TASS news agency that he believes the West “has a long-term plan to destroy Russia”.
He claims that the 2008 war in Georgia, NATO’s military expansion westward, and the war in Ukraine, are all part of an attempt by the United States and its allies to destroy his country.
“The goal is the same: to destroy Russia,” he says.
Ukraine says the nuclear power plant complex in Zaporizhia is currently safe.
But concerns remain high, with the two sides trading accusations.
Ukraine says the Russian attacks over the weekend damaged three radiation sensors and injured a worker. The reactor must be separated from the working system.
Russia blamed Ukraine for the attacks.
The site has been under Russian occupation since the beginning of March, but it is still managed by Ukrainian technicians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a speech in the evening, once again accused Russia of launching “nuclear terrorism” and urged countries to impose more sanctions on Moscow.
picture released, Archyde.com
One of the Russian soldiers assigned to guard the station.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, had hoped that international inspectors would be allowed access to the Zaporizhia station.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of bombing the site, prompting warnings from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency of a “very real risk of nuclear catastrophe”.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located in southeastern Ukraine, is the largest of its kind in Europe. The Russians seized it in March, but kept its Ukrainian staff.
“Any attack on a nuclear plant is suicidal,” Guterres says.
Fighting in Donbass
Britain’s Ministry of Defense has said that Russia is “highly likely” to deploy antipersonnel mines along its defensive lines in Donbass, eastern Ukraine.
In its regular intelligence updates, the ministry says the mines are capable of “inflicting large-scale casualties” among Ukrainian military personnel and local civilians.
The ministry added in a tweet on Twitter that Russia in Donetsk and Kramatorsk “most likely tried to use BFM-1 and BFM-1S anti-personnel mines.”
She says these are commonly called “butterfly mines”, describing them as “highly controversial indiscriminate weapons”.
The BBC was unable to verify this information.
sailing my ship other pillsyin
Two other ships loaded with grain sailed from the ports of Ukraine on the Black Sea, in implementation of the agreement reached by Russia and Ukraine mediated by the United Nations and Turkey.
Officials from the Turkish Defense Ministry said that the first ship, the Sakura, left the port of Bivdini, which was transporting soybeans to Italy.
Another ship, the Arizona, was said to have left Chernomorsk carrying corn grains to southern Turkey.
About 20 million tons of grain was suspended in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, which led to supply shortages and soaring food prices in other countries.
But after the agreement was signed to allow safe passage, it headed the first ship to leave Ukraine since February for Lebanon last week.
picture released, Archyde.com
On Sunday, four other ships carrying grain and sunflower oil left the ports of Odessa and Chornomorsk via a safe sea lane.
The ships headed to Turkey for inspection in implementation of the terms of the agreement, and to ensure that they were not loaded with weapons.
Two later docked in Turkey, while the other two headed to Italy and China.