Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Russia plans to disconnect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from the grid
Isobel Koshiw A detailed plan has been drawn up by Russia to disconnect Europe’s largest nuclear plant from Ukraine’s electricity grid, risking catastrophic failure of its cooling systems, the Guardian has learned. World leaders called for the Zaporizhzhia region to be demilitarized after videos emerged of Russian army vehicles inside the plant and previously warned Russia not to cut it off from the Ukrainian grid and connect it to the Russian electricity grid. However, Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, told the Guardian in an interview that Russian engineers had already drawn up a plan for a switch based on contingency planning if the remaining power connections were struck. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant They presented [the plan] to [workers at] the plant, and the plant [workers] presented it to us. A condition for this plan was heavy damage to all lines connecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the Ukrainian system,” Kotin said. It is feared that the Russian military is now targeting these connections to make the emergency scenario a reality. The plant’s power connections are already in critical condition, with three of the four main lines connecting it to Ukraine’s grid cut during the war and two of the three back-up lines connecting it to a conventional power plant also out of order, he said. Russia’s plan to completely disconnect it would increase the risk of a catastrophic failure by leaving it dependent on a single source of electricity to cool the reactors. “You can’t just go from one system to another right away, you have to … shut everything down on one side and then start changing on the other side,” he said. During this disconnection, the plant will not be connected to any power supply and that is the reason for the danger,” he said. “If you fail to provide cooling… for an hour and a half, then you will already have melted.”
22 dead in Russian train station attack
At least 22 people were killed and 50 injured in a Russian rocket attack on a train station in Ukraine, as the country marked a somber independence day and six months since Moscow’s invasion began. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the missiles hit a train at a station in the town of Chaplyne, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) west of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Chaplin is our pain today. So far, there are 22 dead, five of them burned in the car, an 11-year-old teenager died,” he said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescue operations continue. The aftermath of a rocket attack on the Chaplyne railway station in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. Photo: Twitter
Biden will speak with Zelensky
US President Joe Biden will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after announcing $3bn (£2.5bn) in further US military aid to Ukraine. John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said the US would continue to “rally the free world” and “mobilize allies and partners” to support Ukraine as the Russian invasion reaches the six-month mark. He said the phone call between Biden and Zelensky would confirm those commitments and also provide the Ukrainian president with an update on US arms shipments and congratulate him on Ukraine’s independence day, according to the White House. “The President is looking forward to it,” Kirby said, adding that there are no plans to travel to discuss Biden’s visit to Kyiv. He said if a “trip made sense” it would be considered.
Explosions were heard in the Kiev region – reports
Ukrainian officials are reporting explosions near Kyiv early this morning. Ukraine’s armed forces said “several” explosions were heard in the Vyshgorod region around 3 a.m. Thursday, an area north of the city center, in a warning issued via its official Telegram account. The head of the Kyiv regional military command, Oleksiy Kuleba, also issued an update on Telegram, saying: We have information about several sounds of explosions in one of the communities of the Vyshgorod district. We clarify the information. Emergency services are already operating.” Kuleba urged the resident to seek shelter immediately. According to Ukraine’s emergency services, an airstrike warning was issued across the region at 3.21am. Updated at 04.05 BST
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments for the next while. Whether you followed our coverage overnight or just dropped in, here are the latest lines. Ukrainian officials are reporting a series of explosions near Kyiv early this morning. Ukraine’s armed forces said “several” explosions were heard in the Vyshgorod district around 3 a.m. Thursday, a district north of the city center. It’s 5 am in Kyiv. Here we are:
Russia is planning to disconnect Europe’s largest nuclear power plant from Ukraine’s electricity grid, risking catastrophic failure of its cooling systems, according to the Guardian. Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, said Russian engineers had drawn up a plan for a switch based on contingency planning if the remaining power connections were disrupted. “A condition for this plan was heavy damage to all lines connecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the Ukrainian system,” Kotin said.
At least 22 people were killed and 50 injured in a Russian rocket attack on a train station in Ukraine, as the country marked a somber independence day and six months since Moscow’s invasion began. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the missiles hit a train at a station in the town of Chaplyne, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) west of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. “Chaplin is our pain today. So far, there are 22 dead, five of them burned in the car, an 11-year-old teenager died,” he said, adding that the death toll could rise as rescue operations continue.
Zelensky says Russia has brought the world “to the brink of a radioactive disaster.” “It is a fact that the Russian military has made the territory of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe a battle zone … Now all of Europe and all neighboring areas are under the threat of radio pollution,” he said in a speech on Wednesday afternoon. Zelensky also called on the UN nuclear watchdog to take “permanent control” of the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
US President Joe Biden confirmed an additional $3 billion in military aid, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, drone defense and radar equipment. US officials said the equipment, which would have to be ordered and would not be delivered for months or years, represented a longer-term investment in Ukrainian security. It is the largest tranche of US military aid to date.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Ukraine for the third time since Russia’s invasion, urging the international community to “stay the course” in its support. Announcing £54m of support, he told Zelensky that Ukraine “can and will win the war”. Other senior politicians from across Europe traveled to Kyiv to show their support in person.
Moscow is preparing to hold referendums in the Russian-held regions of Ukraine, according to US intelligence agencies. “We have information that Russia continues to prepare to hold this fake referendum in Kherson, Zaporizhia and the so-called people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk,” said Biden’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “We have also learned that the Russian leadership has instructed officials to start preparing to hold fake referendums, particularly in Kharkiv as well. And those referendums could start in a few days or weeks.”
Plans by Russian-backed authorities to try Ukrainian prisoners of war in Mariupol would be “a travesty of justice,” said a spokesman for US Secretary of State Ned Price. “The planned show trials are illegal and a mockery of justice, and we strongly condemn them,” he said on Wednesday.
Russia has claimed that the slowing pace of its military campaign in Ukraine is deliberate and driven by the need to reduce civilian casualties. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said: “Everything is being done to avoid civilian casualties. Of course, that slows down the tempo of the attack, but we do it on purpose.” Ukraine’s top military intelligence official, Kyrylo Budanov, said Russia’s offensive was slowing because of moral and physical fatigue in its ranks and Moscow’s “depleted” resource base.
Britain is not importing energy from Russia for the first time in history. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released six months after the war began found that in June UK imports from Russia fell by 97% to just £33m as sanctions came into effect.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun at a position near a front line in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on August 24. Photo: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters
