Heading towards World War III?

Russia has rejected appeals for a complete demilitarisation of the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.

The move would make the plant more vulnerable, a Russian official said.

The calls come amid growing concern over safety at the site - Europe's largest nuclear plant - as both sides accuse each other of shelling the area.

Ukrainian workers operate the plant, which has been under Russian control since March.

It was one of the first sites seized by Russian troops following the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

UN Secretary General António Guterres sounded the alarm after meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Lviv on Thursday.

"Any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide," Mr Guterres warned.

The Ukrainian president urged the UN to ensure demilitarisation of the nuclear plant - Europe's biggest. Mr Guterres added that "the facility must not be used as part of any military operation".

Mr Erdogan echoed the UN chief's concerns, telling reporters that he was worried about the danger of "another Chernobyl" disaster erupting at the plant.

Mr Zelensky has criticised "deliberate" Russian attacks on the power plant.

Moscow is accused of turning the facility into an army base, with all three leaders urging the Russians to demilitarise the zone as soon as possible.

But Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry's Information and Press Department, rejected the call.

"Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable," Mr Nechayev told reporters.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62602387

A video has emerged from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Russian military vehicles can be seen inside a turbine hall that's connected to a nuclear reactor. Ukraine says Russia is preparing to stage a provocation.

Ukrainian forces once again targeted Energodar with artillery on Thursday night, according to Vladimir Rogov, a member of the local administration.

Rogov claimed at least seven shells hit the Russian-controlled city that hosts the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest such facility in Europe. In a Telegram post, Rogov claimed that heavy artillery fire targeted the city around 10:50pm local time.

The Zaporozhye NPP suffered no damage in the strike, local authorities later told Russian media. There were also no immediate reports of any casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres voiced concern about the situation around the nuclear facility earlier on Thursday, during his meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Lviv.

While he stopped short of blaming either side, Guterres has once again called to demilitarize the area, insisting that an agreement was “urgently needed” to establish Zaporozhye as a “purely civilian infrastructure” to ensure the plant’s safety.

“Common sense must prevail to avoid any actions that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant,” the UN chief said, adding that the facility “must not be used as part of any military operation” and that any damage to the plant would be “suicide.”

Moscow has repeatedly called for an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the plant, which Guterres said could only happen with Kiev’s approval. Zelensky reiterated on Thursday that any such mission can only take place via Kiev-controlled territory, while calling for an “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” of Russian forces from the area.

However, removing Russian troops “would only make the nuclear power plant more vulnerable,” according to Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman, Ivan Nechayev, who on Thursday cited repeated “provocations” from Kiev’s forces and dismissed the idea of a “demilitarized zone” as “unacceptable.”

The Russian Defense Ministry also warned on Thursday morning that Ukraine might carry out artillery strikes on the Zaporozhye NPP amid the visit by Guterres and Erdogan – and then accuse Moscow of causing a disaster at the site. Ukraine’s military intelligence responded by saying that Russian forces might stage a nuclear “provocation” in the territory they control.

Russian troops took control of the Zaporozhye NPP early on in the course of military operations in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry denies deploying any heavy weapons at the nuclear site, insisting that only Russian troops at the facility are lightly armed guards providing physical security against “provocations.”

Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of conducting frequent drone and artillery strikes against the nuclear plant and the city of Energodar since mid-July. Kiev has denied responsibility and said Russian forces were attacking the plant to discredit Ukraine, while also claiming that Russia is using the facility as a military base.

www.rt.com/russia/561123-energodar-zaporozhye-nuclear-shelling

An ammunition depot caught fire on Thursday night near the village of Timonovo, governor of in Russia's Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov has confirmed. There are no casualties, he said. The area is just across the border with Ukraine.

"An ammunition depot caught fire near the village of Timonovo, Valuysky urban district. According to the latest reports, there were no casualties, no injuries. The head of the district is taking the residents of the villages of Timonovo and Soloti to a safe distance," Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.


Emergency services are on the scene and the cause of the fire is under investigation, he added.


Since the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, Kiev’s forces have carried out numerous strikes on settlements and border checkpoints in Russia’s regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk.

The attacks, which mainly involved drones and mortars, have hit both infrastructure and residential areas, resulting in destruction, injuries, and several civilian deaths.

www.rt.com/russia/561118-ammunition-depot-on-fire-belgorod

More detail now on those reported drone attacks on Russian targets in Crimea.

One of the areas where Russian targets were reportedly attacked is Sebastopol, the home of Russia's Black Sea fleet in Crimea.

The Russian-installed regional head Mikhail Razvozhayev did not mention any damage caused, but said in a Telegram post that a Ukrainian drone had been shot down over naval headquarters and fell onto the roof of the building.

He posted a picture online, saying nobody was hurt.

"It was hit right above the fleet HQ. It fell on the roof and caught fire. They did not manage to carry out the strike. Good job, boys", he said.

Several other drone attacks were reported overnight in Crimea, including one at an airbase.

Russia-appointed head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov has confirmed that an air-defence system was operating in Yevpatoria.

According to Aksyonov, no damage has been reported.

Further north, near the key city of Kherson, the Russians claim to have shot down six Ukrainian drones attacking the hydro-electric dam at Nova Kakhovka.

The BBC has not been able to verify the claims. Ukraine has not commented on the reported attacks.

www.bbc.com/news/live/world-62615601

A Ukrainian drone crashed into the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol on Saturday morning, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev has said.

The low-flying UAV was spotted approaching the city from the bay, but was only shot down once it was above the headquarters.

The drone crashed into the roof of the building and caught fire, Razvozhayev said on Telegram, adding that the work of Russia’s air defenses allowed damage from the indecent to be minimized.

The governor said there were no casualties or significant damage resulting from the attack, which he blamed on Ukraine.

Footage uploaded on social media shows plumes of thick black smoke coming from the roof of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

www.rt.com/russia/561197-drone-sevastopol-crimea-ukraine

. . . the United States has announced another tranche of weapons for Ukraine - this one totalling $775m.

The package includes more High Speed Anti Radiation Missiles (HARMs) for attack on Russian surface-to-air missile radar systems, along with early warning radar facilities.

The missiles are being integrated into existing Ukrainian aircraft - Mig-29s - not an easy task because they are Russian-built with very different avionics systems compared to Western jets. But war tends to accelerate development progress, so perhaps it is no surprise that this has been achieved by Ukraine.

Ground-launched anti-armour capability gets a boost to Kyiv, too. For the first time, 1,500 TOW missiles - Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire-Guided missiles - are being supplied. The Pentagon has also committed to a steady flow of precision-guided munitions for HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) too.

Further down the announcement is reference to "demolition munitions". These too have been supplied before in the shape of C-4, a malleable explosive that’s been around for more than 60 years.

www.bbc.com/news/live/world-62615601

The US will send additional military aid worth $775 million to Kiev, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The newest batch of weapons will include howitzers, drones and mine-clearing equipment, as well as munitions for the HIMARS rocket launchers and other US-made weapons.

Citing Defense Department sources, US media reported that the military assistance package is expected to include 16 105mm howitzers and munitions for them, as well as AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles, 40 MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles (MRAP), and 50 Humvees.

For the first time, the US will be supplying the Ukrainian forces with unmanned aerial systems, specifically 15 Scan Eagle surveillance drones. Their delivery would provide Ukraine with “better reconnaissance around the front lines,” a Pentagon official told the media.

Kiev will also get munitions for the HIMARS rocket lanuchers the US has previously supplied to Ukraine. According to the Pentagon, the US seeks to help Ukrainian forces make gains on the battlefield.

US prepares more military aid for Ukraine – media
Read more US prepares more military aid for Ukraine – media
“We want to make sure that Ukraine has a steady stream of ammunition to meet its needs, and that’s what we’re doing with this package,” the official said.

According to the New York Post, the delivery will also involve 36,000 artillery rounds and 1,000 Javelin portable anti-tank missiles. Other reports mentioned TOW anti-tank missiles as well.

It is unclear when the weapons and ammunition are expected to arrive in Ukraine. The announcement came about two weeks after the US President Joe Biden’s administration approved a $1 billion military aid package to Ukraine, the largest so far. That package included ammunition for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) – air defense systems that are yet to arrive in Ukraine – as well as howitzers and HIMARS.

Friday’s announcement brings the total cost of US military assistance to Kiev to about $10.6 billion, according to US media. It comes after some US analysts questioned the effectiveness of some weapons systems supplied to Ukraine.

Writing in Business Insider this week, Michael Peck noted that the anti-radar HARM missiles, designed to hit enemy air defense systems, would only have “limited impact” on the conflict in Ukraine. Kiev possesses a rather limited number of planes that could launch them and might struggle to turn striking Russian air defenses into a major advantage on the battlefield that is still largely defined by artillery strikes, Peck said.

www.rt.com/news/561185-us-aid-weapons-delivery-kiev

Pro-Ukrainian activists in Leipzig, Germany disrupted the showing of a film about the 2014 Maidan coup, police said on Friday. A group showed up at Thursday evening’s screening of ‘Ukraine on Fire,’ a 2016 documentary produced by Oliver Stone, and got into an altercation with the organizers.

The documentary screening was part of the globaLE film festival, which runs from July 27 to November 1. The open-air festival shows works critical of globalization. ‘Ukraine on Fire,’ produced by Stone and directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Igor Lopatonok, takes a critical view of the 2014 Kiev protests that resulted in a violent overthrow of the elected government of Ukraine.

The German-Ukrainian artist group Ostov Collective showed up at the screening on Thursday evening, calling the documentary pro-Russian.

According to preliminary police reports, six people disturbed the screening by beating their drums and attempting to seize the microphone out of the organizer’s hand. The resulting fight required police intervention, and delayed the screening by several minutes.

Activists with the Ostov Collective told German media that they were in fact the victims, after an organizer punched one of them in the face.

A spokesman for Leipzig police said no injuries were reported, and that the authorities were investigating the activist group for attempted bodily harm, according to Der Spiegel.

YouTube censors Ukraine documentary featuring Oliver Stone
Read more YouTube censors Ukraine documentary featuring Oliver Stone

Lopatonok’s documentary takes an in-depth look at the protests that began in November 2013 and culminated in the violent coup that deposed President Viktor Yanukovich in February 2014, triggering civil war in Ukraine and a referendum in Crimea on joining Russia. In the official narrative of the US-backed government in Kiev, the Maidan was a peaceful “revolution of dignity” by pro-Western democrats.

www.rt.com/news/561189-ukraine-documentary-leipzig-riot