Ukraine said on Sunday that renewed Russian shelling had damaged three radiation sensors and hurt a worker at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, in the second hit in consecutive days on Europe's largest nuclear facility.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Saturday night's shelling "Russian nuclear terror" that warranted more international sanctions, this time on Moscow's nuclear sector.
"There is no such nation in the world that could feel safe when a terrorist state fires at a nuclear plant," Zelenskiy said in a televised address on Sunday.
However, the Russian-installed authority of the area said it was Ukraine that hit the site with a multiple rocket launcher, damaging administrative buildings and an area near a storage facility.
Reuters could not verify either side's version.
Events at the Zaporizhzhia site - where Kyiv had previously alleged that Russia hit a power line on Friday - have alarmed the world.
"(It) underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster," International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi warned on Saturday.
Elsewhere, a deal to unblock Ukraine's food exports and ease global shortages gathered pace as another four ships sailed out of Ukrainian Black Sea ports while the first cargo vessel since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion docked.
The four outgoing ships had almost 170,000 tonnes of corn and other food. They were sailing under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to try to help ease soaring global food prices that have resulted from the war.
Before Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion, which Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a "special military operation", Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports. The disruption since then has threatened famine in some parts of the world.
BATTLE FOR DONBAS
Putin's troops are trying to gain full control of the Donbas region of east Ukraine where pro-Moscow separatists seized territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea to the south in 2014.
Russian forces stepped up their attacks north and northwest of Donetsk city in the Donbas on Sunday, Ukraine's military said. The Russians attacked Ukrainian positions near the heavily fortified settlements of Piski and Avdiivka, as well as shelling other locations in the Donetsk region, it said.
In addition to tightening its grip over the Donbas, Russia is entrenching its position in southern Ukraine, where it has gathered troops in a bid to prevent a potential counter-offensive near Kherson, Kyiv has said.
As the fighting rages, Russians installed in the wake of Moscow's invasion have toyed with the idea of joining Ukraine's occupied territory to Russia. Last month, a senior pro-Russian official said a referendum on such a move was likely "towards next year."
In his video address, Zelenskiy said that any "pseudo-referendums" on occupied areas of his country joining Russia would eliminate the possibility of talks between Moscow and its Ukrainian counterparts or their allies.
"They will close for themselves any change of talks with Ukraine and the free world which the Russian side will clearly need at some point," Zelenskiy said.
Also Sunday, Ukraine's chief war crimes prosecutor said almost 26,000 suspected war crimes committed since the invasion were being investigated, with 135 people charged, of whom 15 were in custody. Russia denies targeting civilians.
Shelling and missile strikes were reported overnight in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and around military sites in the western region of Vinnitsya, among other places, Ukrainian authorities said. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Beyond Ukraine, a proxy battle played out at the International Chess Federation where former Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich won a second term as president, defeating Ukraine's Andrii Baryshpolets.
And after days of controversy, Amnesty International apologised for "distress and anger" caused by a report accusing Ukraine of endangering civilians. That had infuriated Zelenskiy and prompted the head of the rights group's Ukraine office to resign.
Reuters
Mon Aug 08 2022
A firefighter extinguishes a fire on the roof of a railway station following recent shelling during Ukraine-Russia conflict in Donetsk, Ukraine. - REUTERS
Hamas keluarkan video dua tebusan Israel
Kumpulan pejuang Hamas mengedarkan video menampilkan dua tahanan Israel yang menyeru kepada Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, untuk memenuhi perjanjian pembebasan mereka.
Israel sedia tangguh serangan ke atas Rafah
Israel bersedia menangguhkan serangan ke Rafah jika perjanjian pembebasan tahanan Hamas tercapai. Menteri Luar Israel, Israel Katz, menegaskan keutamaan pembebasan tahanan.
Restoran nasi kandar dibaling cat, polis kesan tiga lelaki
Cat merah tersebut terkena papan tanda dan pintu hadapan restoran yang mula beroperasi pada Sabtu.
Kawasan Beris Lalang terbakar lagi
Cuaca panas melampau di Kelantan menyebabkan kebakaran ladang dan semak di kawasan Beris Lalang. Penduduk dan pekebun mengalami kerugian
Ringgit dijangka diniaga dalam jajaran kecil
Ringgit Malaysia dijangka berada di sekitar 4.77 berbanding Dolar AS minggu depan, bergantung kepada keputusan FOMC dan data ekonomi AS
Bursa Malaysia dijangka diniagakan dalam jajaran kecil
Analisis terkini menunjukkan Bursa Malaysia berpotensi naik dalam jajaran kecil minggu depan, dengan pandangan positif terhadap kembalinya dana asing. Paras sokongan dan konsolidasi disebutkan.
PM TIBA di Riyadh untuk hadiri mesyuarat WEF
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tiba di Riyadh bagi menghadiri Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Sedunia. Beliau dijadual terlibat dalam dialog strategik, panel, dan pertemuan bersama pemimpin serantau
Battle Of The Reds: Legenda Liverpool masih bertenaga
Legenda Manchester United terpaksa akur dengan kekalahan kepada legenda Liverpool dengan jaringan 4-2.
Boling Padang: Farah Ain muncul juara dunia!
Farah pamer aksi luar biasa dalam penampilan sulungnya di pentas bertaraf dunia dengan kemenangan straight sets 6-2 dan 6-3.
Sultan Nazrin, Tuanku Zara hadiri majlis Aidilfitri PDRM Perak
Sultan dan Raja Permaisuri Perak berkenan berangkat menghadiri Majlis Sambutan Aidilfitri PDRM Kontinjen Perak 2024.
Ukraine bersedia hadapi ancaman kemalangan nuklear
Latihan keselamatan ini dirintis susulan potensi kebocoran radiasi dari loji kuasa nuklear Zaporizhzhia yang dimiliki Rusia.
17 maut Rusia lancar serangan peluru berpandu di Zaporizhzhia
Sekurang-kurangnya 17 orang maut dan puluhan lain cedera dalam serangan bertubi tentera Rusia di bandar Zaporizhzhia.
Operasi di loji nuklear Zaporizhzhia dihentikan sepenuhnya - Ukraine
Loji yang di bawah kawalan Rusia sejak Mac itu telah terputus daripada grid kuasa pada Isnin lalu.
IAEA kekalkan 2 pakar di loji nuklear Zaporizhzhia Ukraine
Ketua Pengarah IAEA Rafael Grossi berkata dua pakarnya akan kekal berada di loji tenaga nuklear Zaporizhzhia di Ukraine.
China "amat khuatir" situasi semasa di loji nuklear Zaporizhzhia
China "amat bimbang" dengan serangan di loji janakuasa nuklear Zaporizhzhia di Ukraine baru-baru ini.
'Jika meletup, ia 10 kali lebih dahsyat daripada Chernobyl' - Loji nuklear terbesar Eropah terbakar
Ia mencetuskan kebimbangan berlakunya bencana radiasi di negara itu yang kini diceroboh tentera Rusia.