Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– ‘Suicidal’ –
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls for a halt to shelling at Europe’s largest nuclear power site Zaporizhzhia, saying any attack on a nuclear plant is “suicidal”, without saying either side is responsible.
Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for strikes at the plant, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the February 24 invasion. The strikes over the past few days have damaged several structures, forcing the shutdown of a reactor.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has warned of “the very real risk of a nuclear disaster”.
Kyiv on Monday called for the establishment of a demilitarised zone around the station.
– Referendum plan –
Moscow-backed authorities in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia say they are pressing ahead with plans to stage a referendum on joining Russia.
“I signed a decree… to start working on the issue of organising a referendum on the reunification of the Zaporizhzhia region with the Russian Federation,” Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Moscow-installed administration in the occupied part of the region, says on social media.
The southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been largely under Russia’s control since the first weeks of Moscow’s military campaign.
Both are now being forcefully integrated into Russia’s economy.
Russia in 2014 annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine after staging a referendum there.
– Kherson counter-offensive –
Ukrainian forces say they have bombed a strategic bridge over the Dnipro river overnight in Kherson, as they seek to claw back the city.
The Antonovskiy bridge is the main land supply link between the city and the south bank of the Dnipro.
It was partly destroyed on July 27, forcing Russian forces to rethink supply lines and possibly resort to using pontoons to cross the water.
