War in Ukraine: new explosions, Russian nuclear threat… an update on the situation
|Every day, Midi Libre takes stock of the situation in Ukraine. This Saturday, September 21, 2024, discover the latest news around this conflict.
The threat from Russia
The Ukrainian foreign minister said Saturday that Russia appeared to be planning strikes on Ukraine's nuclear facilities before winter, urging the IAEA and kyiv's allies to establish monitoring missions permanent attacks at the country's power plants.
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha clarified on X that these potential attacks concern in particular "open distribution devices (at nuclear power plants) and transmission substations, which are essential for the safe operation of nuclear energy". Moscow did not comment on the the immediate future.
The damage could be heavy, the minister fears: "The damage caused to these facilities would create a high risk of a nuclear accident with global consequences. Our special services have forwarded this data to our partners."
“We urge the [Nuclear Safety] Agency, partner countries and other organizations to expedite the conclusion of agreements, as well as to establish a permanent enhanced mission presence at all relevant facilities,” he added in a recent publication.
New Ukrainian strikes in Russia
Ukraine said on Saturday that it had bombed two ammunition depots in Russia during the previous night, in Tikhoretsk in the Krasnodar region and Oktyabrsky in the Tver region.
“The site (in Tikhoretsk) is one of the three largest ammunition storage sites of the occupier and a key element of the Russian military logistics system,” the General Staff of the Ukrainian army said on the messaging service Telegram.
Ukraine has information that a train carrying 2,000 tons of ammunition, including from North Korea, was inside the depot at the time of the bombing, the Ukrainian General Staff added.
A source close to the Ukrainian security services said that drones were used to carry out the attack. Benjamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar region, said on Telegram that residents had been evacuated due to the attacks.
“The main thing is that there is no longer a threat to residents,” he wrote on the messenger. “But it takes time to fully complete all the necessary checks on the territory.”