Latest developments:    

Russia reiterates demand for state agricultural bank to be reconnected to global payment system as expiration of Black Sea Grain Initiative looms.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country’s economy is performing better than expected.  

   

The Ukrainian military said Tuesday it destroyed a formation of Russian forces in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. 

Ukraine said the attack happened in the Russian-occupied area of Makiivka. 

Russian officials said the Ukrainian attack killed one civilian and wounded 36 others. 

Ukraine and Russia traded accusations that the other side is planning to attack the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. 

 

 

The site has been at the center of such fears for much of the conflict since Russia invaded in February 2022.  The United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency has repeatedly warned about the potential for catastrophe with shelling taking place in the area that both Russia and Ukraine blamed on each other. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed the issue in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

“The whole world must now realize that common security depends entirely on global attention to the actions of the occupiers at the plant. Russia must clearly realize that the world sees what scenarios terrorists are preparing for, and the world is ready to respond,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Tuesday. “Radiation is a threat to everyone in the world, and the nuclear power plant must be fully protected from any radiation incidents.”

An adviser to the head of the Russian entity that operates Russia’s nuclear network accused Ukraine of planning to use “high-precision, long-range weapons” to carry out an attack on the Zaporizhzhia plant. 

The Zaporizhzhia plant is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and has been under Russian control since the early weeks of its invasion. 

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said in a statement Tuesday that the plant had lost connection to is main external power line, meaning it had to switch to a backup to get the electricity needed for “essential nuclear safety and security functions.” 

“This time the plant avoided a complete loss of all external power – which has happened seven times previously during the conflict – but the latest power line cut again demonstrates the precarious nuclear safety and security situation at the plant,” Grossi said in a statement. 

The plant has experienced repeated power cuts and has also had the availability of water needed for cooling activities threatened by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in early June.  

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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