Subsequent seismic analysis by Norsar of Norway, relying on sensors in Romania, has so far borne that out, while US media report that spy satellites also detected a blast around that time. Locals reported hearing a deafening explosion with the “sky turning to white” in the small hours. Then at 2.50am on Tuesday, cataclysm struck the Nova Kakhovka dam. A day earlier, on Monday, Ukraine started, albeit without any fanfare, its long awaited counter-offensive on which the future of the war, of Ukraine and perhaps even Russia, hinges. Kyiv’s interior ministry counts 27 people missing so far, although the true figure is likely to be far higher, following a disaster that came at the most critical point in the war since Russian troops were repelled from Kyiv. That though, leaves the clean-up to the already stretched state emergency services. Locals in the city have been told not to try to clean up the rubbish, reeds and other waterborne detritus amid concern that landmines, some made of light plastic, could be floating dangerously within. On Friday an intact roof ended up on a beach in Odesa, 130 miles away. Whole houses are being washed into the Black Sea. Outside toilets are flooded,” he says, and acknowledges that while the Russian occupation between March and November did not force him out, the flooding disaster has. “When the waters go down, there will be lots of dead fish, other decay. “The cemetery is drowned, the sewers have been drowned,” Chornyi says, even claiming to have seen coffins floating downstream. He says he fears disease spreading due to the flooding disaster. Life will return.”Īndrew Katell contributed to this report from New York.Vasyl Chornyi prepares to board an evacuation train at Mykolaiv train station. “The invaders brought degradation and death and they believe that they are there forever,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed again Sunday to re-take the separatist areas. Russian and separatist forces hold much of the Donetsk region, one of two Russia has recognized as sovereign states. “I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying over me, the frame and pieces of broken glass,” he said. Sloviansk resident Kostiantyn Daineko told The Associated Press that he was falling asleep when an explosion blew out his apartment windows. Ukrainian officials didn’t comment on the claim, in keeping with their policy of not discussing losses. Konashenkov said Russian missile strikes killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and reservists in and near Sloviansk. In eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, shelling hit the large and strategically significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, with no casualties reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region’s governor. The IAEA has tried to work out an agreement with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to send a team to inspect and secure the plant, but it remained unclear when the visit might take place. “There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high,” it said. Periodic shelling has damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Energoatom, said Saturday. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown. The systems require electricity, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear reactors. Russian forces struck a Zaporizhzhia repair shop for Ukrainian air force helicopters, Konashenkov said.Īuthorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure. The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) up the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, also came under Russian fire, damaging dozens of apartment buildings and homes and wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said. Rocket strikes damaged a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000. Nearby, heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the Dnipropetrovsk region’s governor. Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed regional official, said on the Telegram messaging app that the drone crashed onto a building’s roof, not causing any significant damage or injuring anyone. In another apparent attack Sunday, Russian forces shot down an armed Ukrainian drone targeting one of the Zaporizhzhia plant’s spent fuel storage sites, a local official said. The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency also reported Sunday that radiation levels were normal, that two of the Zaporizhzhia plant’s six reactors were operating and that while no complete assessment had yet been made, recent fighting had damaged a water pipeline, since repaired.
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