United Nations, United States | AFP by Thibault MARCHAND with Joe STENSON in Soledar The head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned an emergency Security Council meeting on Thursday of the “grave” crisis unfolding at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of new shelling near the facility. “This is a serious hour, a grave hour,” Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security […]
Europe
War in Ukraine: latest developments
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine: – ‘Grave hour’ at Ukraine nuclear plant – The head of the UN nuclear watchdog tells the Security Council that fighting near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has sparked a “grave crisis”, after Kyiv and Moscow again accuse each other of shelling near the site. “This is a serious hour, a grave hour and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) must be […]
Ukraine forces endangering civilians: Amnesty
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Ukrainian forces are violating international law and endangering civilians by establishing bases in residential areas, including in schools and hospitals, Amnesty International said Thursday, drawing a furious response from Kyiv. Kyiv said the rights group was drawing a “false equivalency” between the actions of Russia’s invading forces and Ukrainians defending their homeland. Amnesty had tried to “amnesty the terrorist state and shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the […]
Ukraine says parts of nuclear plant ‘seriously damaged’ in strikes
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Parts of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were “seriously damaged” by military strikes that forced one of its reactors to shut down, the plant’s operator said on Saturday. The Friday strikes on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south Ukraine — Europe’s largest atomic power complex — “seriously damaged” a station containing nitrogen and oxygen and an “auxiliary building,” Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging service. Kyiv and Moscow blamed each […]
Turkey says three grain shipments to leave Ukraine Friday
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Three more ships filled with grain will sail from Ukraine on Friday under a UN-backed deal lifting Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea, Turkey’s defense minister said. “It is planned that three ships will set sail tomorrow from Ukraine,” Anadolu state news agency quoted Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying, one day after the first ship passed Istanbul on its way to Lebanon. Ankara also announced that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut […]
Scholz opens door to extend nuclear as Russia squeezes gas supply
by Yann SCHREIBER with Sebastien ASH in Frankfurt Agence France-Presse MÜLHEIM AN DER RUHR, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday raised the possibility of keeping nuclear plants going as he accused Russia of blocking the delivery of a key turbine to throttle gas supplies to Europe. The continent’s biggest economy has been scrambling for energy sources to fill a gap left by a reduction in gas supplies from Moscow. Standing next to […]
US ratifies Finland, Sweden accession to NATO
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate ratified the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO Wednesday, strongly backing the expansion of the transatlantic alliance in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Senate voted 95 to 1 in favor of the two Nordic countries’ accession, making the United States the 23rd of the 30 NATO countries to formally endorse it so far, after Italy approved it earlier Wednesday and France on Tuesday. […]
Grim fragments of life seep out from Russian-occupied Ukraine
by Cecile FEUILLATRE and Igor TKACHEV Agence France-Presse KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AFP) — Collapsed social services, financial woes and fear: only brief snippets filter out of the daily reality for Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territory. Areas seized by Moscow since its invasion in February have been abruptly cut off from the rest of the country and communication with those left behind is often patchy. Several people living in three regions captured by the Kremlin gave grim accounts […]
Sanctions have huge toll on Russian economy: report
by Paul Handley Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Russian economy has been deeply damaged by sanctions and the exit of international business since the country invaded Ukraine, according to a new report by Yale University business experts and economists. Even though Moscow has been able to pull in billions of dollars from continued energy sales at elevated prices, largely unpublished data shows that much of its domestic economic activity has stalled since […]
South Ukraine city pounded as Russia says Crimea navy HQ hit by drone
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine said the “brutal” shelling by Moscow so far of the southern city Mykolaiv killed a grain tycoon Sunday, as Russia claimed an attack from a drone wounded six personnel at the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet. AFP journalists witnessed intense Russian bombardment of the eastern town of Bakhmut after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for civilians to leave the front line Donetsk region bearing the brunt of the Kremlin’s […]
Russia says drone attack hits Crimea navy HQ
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Russia said an attack from a drone Sunday wounded six personnel at the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea, as authorities in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv reported it had suffered its “strongest” shelling of the war. AFP journalists witnessed an intense bombardment of the eastern town of Bakhmut after President Volodymyr Zelensky called in a late night address for civilians to leave the front line Donetsk […]
Eight killed as fire erupts in Moscow building
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Eight people died in a blaze in a 15-storey building in Moscow overnight, after a fire alarm malfunctioned, officials said Friday. The fire erupted in the building in a southeastern district, an agency investigating criminal acts said, adding that four people were hospitalised. Emergency services said the blaze broke out on the ground floor of the building, adding that the flames were doused soon after midnight and that more than […]





