Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says intelligence agencies have received information that shows Russia is considering carrying out a “terrorist” attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Accompanying a video statement, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, “Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant – a terrorist act with the release of radiation. They have prepared everything for this.
“Unfortunately, I had to be reminded more than once that radiation knows no national borders, and who it hits is determined only by the direction of the wind,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that the information was being shared with allies and international organisations.
“This time, it should not be like with Kakhovka: the world has been warned, therefore, the world can and must act,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian forces fired four missiles at Chonhar bridge: RIA
Russia’s Investigative Committee said Ukrainian forces had fired four missiles at the Chonhar road bridge connecting Crimea with Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region overnight, the RIA news agency reported.
The so-called “gate to Crimea” is one of a handful of links between Crimea and mainland Ukraine.
The Russia-installed governor of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said that Ukrainian attacks had hit “bridges” near “Chongar”, next to photos of what appeared to be gaping holes on a bridge.
“Already, the Government of the Russian Federation is taking measures to eliminate damage to bridge crossings”, Saldo said on Telegram.
Sweden reserves the right to classify Nord Stream findings: RIA
Sweden’s prosecutor’s office reserves the right to classify material from its investigation into last year’s sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted it as saying.
RIA reported that if the investigation was dropped and no conclusions were made, materials would not be made public.
Russia has repeatedly demanded access to investigations by Sweden and other countries into the blasts that severely damaged the pipelines connecting Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea.
Sweden and Denmark have said the blasts were a sabotage attack but have yet to uncover who was behind it.
German Chancellor pledges long-term security for Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged long-term security assurances to Ukraine but dismissed Kyiv’s dreams of joining the NATO alliance.
“We have to take a sober look at the current situation,” Scholz told German lawmakers in a speech to parliament, adding that the government in Kyiv had acknowledged it would not be able to join the bloc while in active war.
“Therefore, I suggest we focus on the top priority [at the NATO summit] in Vilnius [in mid-July], namely strengthening the combat power of Ukraine,” Scholz said.
While Kyiv and its closest allies in Eastern Europe call for concrete steps towards Kyiv’s membership, Western governments like the United States and Germany worry about moves that could bring the alliance closer to war with Russia.
Poland not used as hub for Nord Stream sabotage: Prosecutors
Polish prosecutors say there is no evidence to suggest that Poland was used as a hub for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, rejecting a report that a team that blew up the pipelines may have used the country as an operating base.
“The statement that ‘Poland was a logistics hub for the operation of blowing up Nord Stream’ is completely untrue and is not supported by the evidence of the investigation,” the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Prosecutors also said there was no direct evidence to suggest that the Andromeda, a 15m (49-foot) yacht suspected of being involved in explosions at the site, took part in the sabotage.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported this month that German investigators are examining evidence suggesting a sabotage team used Poland as its base to damage the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September.
The battle to rebuild: Slow return of life to Ukraine’s Kharkiv
In Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv, efforts are underway to rebuild several months after the region was retaken in September last year.
But it is going to be a slow process for a city and its people who still bear the scars of so much conflict.
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull reports from Kharkiv, Ukraine.
UN nuclear watchdog chief to visit Moscow
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, will visit Russia on Friday, the Interfax news agency reports.
Grossi is likely to hold talks about the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Kyiv accused Moscow of “mining” the cooling pond used to keep the reactors cool at the Russian-occupied plant.
Russia occupied the six-reactor complex, Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, shortly after invading Ukraine in February last year.
Russia says considering US request to visit jailed journalist
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov says Moscow is considering a request from the United States to visit journalist Evan Gershkovich who is being held on spying charges he denies, the Interfax news agency reported.
A hearing in Gershkovich’s case is due on Thursday.
Gershkovich, a US citizen, was arrested in March on espionage charges after Russia’s FSB security service accused him of collecting military secrets in the city of Yekaterinburg. He was initially remanded in custody until May 29, but a court last month extended his detention until August 30.
Gershkovich and his employer, the Wall Street Journal, strongly deny the charges.
Zelenskyy: Ukraine counteroffensive ‘slower than desired’
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces has been “slower than desired”, but Ukrainian forces will not be pressured into speeding up.
Ukrainian forces are being slowed in their advance by vast minefields laid by Russian forces, Zelenskyy told the BBC in an interview. With some 200,000 square kilometres (more than 77,000 square miles) of Ukrainian frontier territory littered with Russian land mines, the Ukrainian leader said that “at stake is people’s lives”.
“Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia says three Ukrainian drones downed near Moscow
Russia says it brought down two drones outside Moscow as they approached the warehouses of a local military unit.
The wreckage of a third drone was reportedly found about 20km (12 miles) away. No damage or casualties were reported.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it was “an unsuccessful attempt at a terrorist attack” by “the Kyiv regime” on its facilities in the Moscow region, adding in a statement that all three drones were brought down by electronic jamming.
Russia gas flow through Ukraine could stop next year
Ukrainian energy minister says Moscow could shut off one of the last arteries carrying Russian gas to Europe by the end of next year when Kyiv’s supply contract with Gazprom expires.
A report by the Financial Times quoted German Galushchenko as saying there was a slim chance that Kyiv and Moscow would agree to a renewal of the five-year transit contract first signed in 2019, even though the route through Ukraine accounts for almost five percent of Europe’s total gas imports.
Ukraine strikes key bridge linking Kherson and Crimea
Russia-appointed governor of Kherson says Ukrainian forces have carried out a missile strike on a bridge linking mainland to Crimea.
Vladimir Saldo says the bridge, which links Kherson and Crimea, was likely to have been attacked by Storm Shadow missiles, adding that traffic had been diverted to a different route.
No casualties have been reported.
