The Ukrainian armed forces say they have destroyed six ammunition depots in the south of the country occupied by Russian troops. Five ammunition depots were destroyed in the Kherson region, the Ukrainian military’s “South” command announced on Facebook on Friday. In addition, a depot is said to have been destroyed in the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region. At the same time, there is skepticism about a neutral IAEA assessment of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
Selenskyj criticized previous inspection
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj was disappointed with the previous inspection. In his nightly speech on Thursday, he accused the IAEA of not having clearly called for the “demilitarization” of the nuclear site, which is under Russian control. He spoke about it on Tuesday during a meeting with IAEA boss Rafael Grossi in Kyiv.
Already on Friday, Zelenskyy said that the IAEA’s mission could still be important despite the difficulties caused by the Russian presence on the ground. “We have done everything to ensure that the IAEA has access to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and I believe that this mission can still play a role,” said Zelenskyy. According to Russian information, two IAEA inspectors will remain permanently at the nuclear power plant.
IAEA boss Rafael Grossi wants to appear before the press in Vienna on Friday evening after his return from Ukraine. According to the IAEA, a press conference is planned at Schwechat Airport around 8:00 p.m. CEST, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced. Grossi heads the IAEA mission in Zaporizhia.
Ukrainian nuclear company: “Occupiers falsify evidence”
However, the state-owned Ukrainian nuclear company Enerhoatom doubts that the mission of international nuclear experts to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the south of the country can help clarify the matter. “The occupiers lie, falsify facts and evidence,” criticized Enerhoatom on Friday, referring to Russia on Friday on the Telegram news channel. The delegation was also denied access to the facility’s crisis center. Russian military personnel are currently stationed there. Russia is making every effort to ensure that no facts about the nuclear power plant are known.
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, his army has not stationed heavy weapons at the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. “I responsibly declare that we have no heavy weapons on the site of the nuclear power plant or in the adjacent areas,” he said in Moscow on Friday. He hopes that the experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be able to see this for themselves. At the same time, he again accused Ukraine of shelling the nuclear power plant and thereby risking a nuclear catastrophe in Europe.
Contradictory information on Ukrainian counter-offensive
According to Shoigu, the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south of the country largely failed. “The Ukrainian armed forces continue to attempt attacks in the area between Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih and in other directions, the enemy is suffering heavy casualties,” Shoigu said on Friday.
The aim of the Ukrainian attacks is to drive the Russian troops stationed west of the Dnipro back behind the river in the Cherson region. In contrast, Shoigu declared that Russian troops had advanced to the territorial border with the neighboring Mykolayiv region. The information cannot be verified independently.
The Ukrainian military leadership has remained silent about the course of ground operations. There is only information about the hits of their own artillery. Accordingly, in addition to the five depots, two ferry connections used by the Russians were also hit across a river. The bridges are still under fire, the Ukrainian military said. The ferry and bridge connections are considered strategically important for the supply of Russian forces west of the Dnipro River.
In the Zaporizhia region, which is also partially occupied by Russian troops, Melitopol has again become the target of Ukrainian artillery attacks. An ammunition depot near the airport was hit so hard that explosions continued for hours, said the Ukrainian mayor of the city, Ivan Fyodorov, on his Telegram channel. Violent nighttime detonations can be seen on the attached video.
According to Great Britain, the heavy fighting in the south of Ukraine continues – also in the district of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is located. This was announced by the British Ministry of Defense. According to British sources, a house in Enerhodar came under fire. Soldiers ran around and helicopters flew over the building. It was not possible to determine who fired.
The Russian-installed governor of the Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said at least three people were killed and five wounded in the Ukrainian shelling of Enerhodar. Ukraine’s presidential aide Mykhailo Podoliak, on the other hand, said Russia staged the Enerhodar incident in order to blame Ukraine.
Source: Nachrichten
