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The report identifies 21 “filtering” sites in Ukraine operated by Russia
Russia and its proxy forces in Ukraine operate 21 sites used to capture, interrogate and process prisoners of war and civilians, according to a new report by Yale University researchers supported by the US State Department. The Conflict Observatory report cites commercial satellite imagery and open-source information to identify with “high confidence” the distinct locations – including facilities that once served as schools, markets and regular prisons. It also locates possible graves in a prison complex. A Conflict Monitor hub that analyzes evidence of Russian war crimes released a report on August 25 that provides evidence of forced deportation and infiltration camps in Ukraine. The Humanitarian Research Laboratory at the Yale School of Public Health, which produced the report, is a partner in a State Department-funded Conflict Monitor launched in May to capture and analyze evidence of war crimes and other atrocities allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine. Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said the findings showed Russia and its proxies had set up a “filtering system” to sort people into Russian-held areas, which represented an “emergency for the Human Rights”. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of expelling hundreds of thousands of people from Russian-held areas of Ukraine. Thursday’s report focused on the Donetsk region, where Russia and its proxy the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic seized control of most of the city of Mariupol in March. The city’s mayor said in April that about 40,000 civilians from the city were forcibly transferred to Russian-controlled territory or transferred to Russia. The report found a system that brings civilians into conflict-affected areas, subjects them to registration and interrogation before they are either released, detained or transferred to Russia. Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly received a discount card for any future travel on Ukrainian trains. A photo of Johnson shared by Ukrainian media shows the prime minister holding a “Ukrzaliznytsia” loyalty card numbered 001. Boris Johnson got a discount on Ukrainian train travel He posted a photo with a “Ukrzaliznytsia” reward card number 001. It was sent to him by the company itself. But there is a nuance: Johnson is only the owner of the card. The carrier has not launched the program yet. pic.twitter.com/YvDGALlsdq — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 25, 2022
The UN will visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Negotiations are underway for the UN nuclear watchdog to visit the site, and Ukraine’s top nuclear official told the Guardian that IAEA inspectors could arrive by the end of the month. The IAEA said Ukraine had informed it that the plant had temporarily lost connectivity, “further underscoring the urgent need for IAEA experts to travel to the facility”. We cannot afford to waste any more time. I am determined to personally lead an IAEA mission to the plant in the coming days,” said the agency’s director-general, Rafael Grossi. Zelensky also urged: The IAEA and other international organizations must act much faster than they are doing now. Because every minute that Russian troops stay at the nuclear plant is a risk of a global disaster from radiation.” At least 25 people have been confirmed dead after a Russian rocket struck a train station in Ukraine. Russian forces attacked a train in Chaplyne village of Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday. The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack. A railway carriage damaged by a Russian missile attack in Chaplyne, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images A railway worker looks at a heavily damaged train after a Russian attack on a railway station on Wednesday. Photo: Léo Corrêa/AP The train station in the Ukrainian village of Chaplyne on Thursday was attacked on Ukraine’s independence day. Photo: Léo Corrêa/AP Updated at 06.29 BST
US condemns Russia for turning site into ‘active war zone’
The US has condemned any Russian attempt to divert power from Ukraine, where authorities said the massive Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had been cut off from its national grid. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters: The electricity it produces rightfully belongs to Ukraine, and any attempt to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian electricity grid and redirect it to occupied territories is unacceptable. No country should turn a nuclear power plant into an active war zone, and we oppose any Russian efforts to equip or divert power from the plant.” Ukraine said earlier that Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s largest nuclear facility – had for the first time been cut off from its national grid following fighting around the complex. President Joe Biden, in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, asked Russia to return full control of the plant and let UN nuclear inspectors in, the White House said. Bonnie Jenkins, under secretary of state for arms control, said Moscow bears responsibility for the plant’s security. “Their actions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have created a serious risk of a nuclear incident – a dangerous release of radioactivity – that could threaten not only the people and environment of Ukraine but also affect neighboring countries and the entire international community,” he said. Jenkins to reporters. “The risk of a radioactivity release could be eliminated if Russia returns control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant back to Ukraine and fully withdraws from Ukrainian sovereign territory,” he said.
Zelensky says world narrowly avoided ‘radioactive catastrophe’
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the world narrowly avoided a “radioactive catastrophe” as the last regular line supplying electricity to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was restored hours after it was cut by shelling. The Ukrainian president said officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, must have urgent access to the site. Zelensky blamed Thursday’s shelling by the Russian military for fires in the ashes of a nearby coal-fired power plant that disconnected the reactor complex, Europe’s largest such facility, from the power grid. He said backup diesel generators ensured power supply and kept the plant safe. The nuclear plant came close to a “radioactive catastrophe”, says Zelensky – video Addressing the nation on Wednesday afternoon, he said: Today, for the first time in history, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant stopped. The emergency protection of the power units worked – after the last working line of the plant’s power return to the Ukrainian electricity system was damaged by Russian shelling. If our station personnel had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already have had to overcome the consequences of a radioactive accident. Russia has brought Ukraine and all Europeans to a situation one step away from a nuclear disaster.” IAEA officials should have access to the site within days, he said, “before the occupiers bring the situation to an impasse.”
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. It is 7.30 in the morning in Kyiv. Here we are:
The bombing temporarily disconnected the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant from Ukraine’s grid. Fires caused by shelling cut the last remaining power line to the plant on Thursday, temporarily disconnecting it from Ukraine’s national grid for the first time in nearly 40 years of operation, the country’s nuclear power company Energoatom said.
The White House called on Russia to agree to a demilitarized zone around the plant after US President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. Biden congratulated him on the country’s 31st Independence Day, which is celebrated on Wednesday. Zelensky said he had “a great conversation” and thanked Biden for his “unwavering” support. It comes a day after Biden announced nearly $3 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, anti-drone defenses and radar equipment, the largest tranche of US military aid to date.
Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month with no sign of abating. The Russian president’s decree appears to indicate the country’s aim to replenish its army, which has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine and failed to achieve its goal of capturing the capital, Kyiv.
At least 25 people have been confirmed dead after a Russian rocket struck a train station in Ukraine. Russian forces attacked a train in Chaplyne village of Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday. The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported on Telegram that two children were killed in the attack. Russia has since confirmed it was behind the attack.
The mayor of the Russian-held city of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said a building allegedly used by Russian-backed officials in the region was “blown up”. Fedorov, who is not in the city, released a video purportedly showing damage to the building, which he said was being used to stage a “pseudo-referendum” by Russian-backed authorities on whether the area should join Russia.
