Closing summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged Russian soldiers to flee for their lives after his forces launched an offensive to retake southern Ukraine. A senior presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, cautioned Ukrainians not to expect rapid gains and described the offensive as a “slow operation to grind the enemy”.
The former head of Britain’s secret intelligence service, MI6, has welcomed Ukraine’s counterattacks in Kherson, saying it is a key moment in the war. Sir Alex Younger told the BBC that the fightback from Kyiv showed the two opposing forces had “reached some kind of balance, which is an unexpected and frankly welcome situation”.
The Kremlin has insisted that its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is going to plan despite the news that Kyiv’s troops have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “The special military operation continues, it continues methodically, and in coordination with the current plans. All objectives will be fulfilled.”
A Moscow-installed leader of occupied Kherson has reportedly fled to Russia after Kyiv announced it had begun its long-awaited counterattack aimed at taking back the southern region from Russian forces. When asked by the Guardian about his location, Kirill Stremousov said he was currently “travelling around Russian cities, meeting different people for work”.
At least four people were killed and four wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv, the regional governor said. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Oleh Synehubov said: “As a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, at least four people died and four more were injured.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has met the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, and his delegation ahead of the group’s visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. A key adviser to Ukraine’s president accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling corridors for the IAEA inspectors to force them through Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporarily occupied by Moscow’s forces.
The European Commission has said it will donate 5.5m potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine amid fears that fighting in the area of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to nuclear catastrophe. The commission said it had received a request from the Ukrainian government for potassium iodide tablets “as a preventative safety measure” to increase the level of protection around the nuclear plant.
The first shipment of grain from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa since the war began has docked in Djibouti. The UN-chartered vessel Brave Commander is carrying 23,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat and will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes. The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5m people for a month.
Ukraine has deployed a fleet of dummy rockets to trick Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range missiles on pointless targets, according to reports. At least 10 Russian cruise missiles have reportedly been fired by Moscow’s naval fleet in the Black Sea at the dummy targets, which are made of wood but look like US-supplied advanced rocket launcher systems when spotted by Russian drones, the Washington Post reports.
Germany and France have issued a joint warning against a ban on tourist visas for Russians, saying such a step would be counter-productive. The split on tourist visas will be at the heart of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday as they discuss what further steps they can take to sanction Russia for its six-month old invasion of Ukraine.
The UN’s cultural agency has said it supports a bid by Ukraine to put its port city of Odesa on the Unesco world heritage list of protected sites. The UN agency also said it wants to add Odesa, Kyiv and Lviv to the list of world heritage sites “in danger”.
That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war blog today. Thanks for following along. I’ll be back tomorrow.
Updated
Here’s more on the meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in Kyiv today.
Grossi arrived in the Ukrainian capital late on Monday at the head of a 14-strong team before a visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Zelenskiy said the mission was “probably one of the top-priority questions regarding the safety of Ukraine and the world today”, and called for the “immediate de-militarisation of the plant” and its transfer to “full Ukrainian control”.
The Ukrainian president said he hoped the delegation would “find an opportunity, thanks to our special services, thanks to the security corridors, to get to the station and do the best to avoid all those threats on a global scale”.
He also urged the mission to do more than inspect the plant, saying that strategic decisions were required “regarding the urgent demilitarisation of the station, the withdrawal of all, any, military personnel of the Russian Federation with explosives, with any kind of weapon”.
Updated
The UN’s cultural agency has said it supports a bid by Ukraine to put its port city of Odesa on the Unesco world heritage list of protected sites.
The historic centre of Odesa has already been “struck by artillery fire” and is “located only a few dozen kilometres from the front line”, the agency said in a statement.
The protection of cultural heritage is a priority.@unesco will deploy new measures to protect cultural heritage in #Ukraine, particularly in Odesa and L’viv.
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) August 30, 2022
Learn more: https://t.co/eHWX2tz9bO #ProtectHeritage pic.twitter.com/LIBWirQwbi
The statement followed a meeting of the agency’s director, Audrey Azoulay, and Ukraine’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, in Paris. The agency added:
On 24 July 2022, part of the large glass roof and windows of Odesa’s Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1899, were destroyed.
It said it had mobilised experts to support Ukraine so that the nomination can be examined urgently by World Heritage Committee member states.
The UN agency also said it wants to add Odesa, Kyiv and Lviv to the list of world heritage sites “in danger”.
Updated
Russian state prosecutors have requested a 24-year prison term for the former journalist, Ivan Safronov, who is on trial for treason, his defence team has told Russian media.
Safronov, 32, was one of Russia’s most respected journalists covering defence for the Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers. He was arrested in July 2020 after leaving journalism to serve as an aide to the head of Russia’s space agency.
He has been accused by Russia’s FSB security service of collecting military secrets about Russian arms sales in the Middle East and Africa and handing them over to the Czech Republic. Safronov has denied the charges and described the trial as “a complete travesty of justice”.
Speaking to the Russian state-owned news agency, Ria, after a closed-door hearing, Safronov’s lawyer, Dmitry Katchev, said:
The prosecutor asked to sentence Ivan to 24 years in a strict regime penal colony.
Safronov’s previous lawyer, Yevgeny Smirnov, said on Facebook that his former client had turned down an offer of 12 years in jail in return for a guilty plea.
The verdict in his case will be announced on 5 September, Russian news agencies said.
Updated
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has met the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, and his delegation ahead of the group’s visit to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
From the Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne:
The @iaeaorg mission headed by the agency's general director @rafaelmgrossi met with @ZelenskyyUa in #Kyiv. The President of #Ukraine hopes that the mission will get to the #ZaporizhzhiaNPP through security corridors and will do everything "to avoid a global threat." pic.twitter.com/Y5vjsG7FdZ
— SUSPILNE NEWS 📰 (@suspilne_news) August 30, 2022
Updated
The deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, said in a telephone interview that “everything in Kherson was under control”, claiming that Ukrainian spies and saboteurs were killed near Kherson’s Tavriiskyi neighbourhood on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, reports emerged that Stremousov had left Kherson after a video he posted appeared to indicate he was located in Voronezh, a Russian city some 600 miles from Kherson.
When asked by the Guardian about his location, Stremousov said he was currently “travelling around Russian cities, meeting different people for work”.
He said:
I don’t have to sit [in Kherson]. I am the deputy head of the region and have the opportunity to move around … These are working trips.
“Kherson will remain my base,” he added, denying he left Kherson out of safety concerns.
Stremousov became the most senior Russian-appointed official in Kherson after the local governor, Volodymyr Saldo, was taken to hospital amid a suspected poisoning earlier in the summer.
Stremousov’s apparent departure from Kherson comes after another Russian-appointed official in the region, Alexei Kovalev, was shot dead in his home over the weekend.
In the past months, a number of Ukrainian nationals appointed by Russian forces in occupied territory have been killed or wounded in apparent partisan attacks.
Updated
Kremlin-appointed Kherson leader has fled to Russia – reports
A Moscow-installed leader of occupied Kherson has reportedly fled to Russia, one day after Kyiv announced it had begun its long-awaited counter attack aimed at taking back the southern region from Russian forces.
Kirill Stremousov, who was appointed deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson military-civilian administration, has published regular video updates to state-owned Russian news outlets and his Telegram account.
But a Ukrainian activist, Serhii Sternenko, has claimed Stremousov is no longer in Kherson and has instead been filming his recent video updates somewhere near the Cathedral of Annunciation in Voronezh in Russia, which can be seen in the background.
Voronezh is almost 500 miles from Kherson and about 120 miles from the border with Ukraine.
In a series of tweets, Sternenko wrote:
Traitor to Ukraine and collaborator Stremousov escaped from Kherson and says that Kherson will forever remain Russian ... from Voronezh to Russia.
1/2
— Serhii Sternenko (@sternenko) August 30, 2022
⚡️Зрадник України і колаборант Стрємоусов втік з Херсону та розповідає, що росія у Херсоні назавжди… із Воронєжа на росії
Завдяки багатьом небайдужим громадянам вдалось встановити, що вчора та сьогодні Стрємоусов записував свої відеозвернення із готелю Marriott у м. Воронєж pic.twitter.com/Hie6e3QKTy
He went on to claim that Stremousov was filming his videos from a Marriott hotel in Voronezh.
2/2
— Serhii Sternenko (@sternenko) August 30, 2022
на проспекті Революції, 38.
На задньому тлі видно і Благовіщенський собор Воронєжа, і таку ж жовто-світлу чотириповерхову будівлю на вул. Революції, 29 (технікум будівельних технологій). Позаду також є Воронезьке водосховище.
Дякую усім, хто долучився до пошуків🤝🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/IJ8snLb29i
Updated
A selection of images showing recent developments in Ukraine have dropped on the picture wires.
Updated
The former head of Britain’s secret intelligence service, MI6, has welcomed Ukraine’s counterattacks in Kherson, saying it is a key moment in the war.
Sir Alex Younger told the BBC that the fightback from Kyiv showed the two opposing forces had “reached some kind of balance, which is an unexpected and frankly welcome situation”.
He added that western help had strengthened Ukrainian capability and that there was a long-term trend showing Russian military capability had slowly weakened. He said the new offensive in Kherson from Zelenskiy’s forces was “all about the urge of Ukraine to demonstrate they can get on the front foot”.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s nearly 5.30pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged Russian soldiers to flee for their lives after his forces launched an offensive to retake southern Ukraine. A senior presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, told Ukrainians not to expect rapid gains and described the offensive as a “slow operation to grind the enemy”.
The Kremlin has insisted that its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is going to plan despite the news that Kyiv’s troops have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “The special military operation continues, it continues methodically, and in co-ordination with the current plans. All objectives will be fulfilled.”
Kherson has been hit by a partial power outage and a partial shutdown of the water supply, Russian state news agencies have cited pro-Russian officials as saying. Traffic lights and building lights have also been reported going off in the Moscow-held region, according to Russian media.
At least four people were killed and four wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv, the regional governor said. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Oleh Synehubov said: “As a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, at least 4 people died and 4 more were injured.”
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog have arrived in Kyiv en route to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday. A key adviser to Ukraine’s president accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling corridors for the IAEA inspectors to force them through Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporarily occupied by Moscow’s forces.
The European Commission has said it will donate 5.5m potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine amid fears that fighting in the area of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to nuclear catastrophe. The Commission said it had received a request from the Ukrainian government for potassium iodide tablets “as a preventative safety measure” to increase the level of protection around the nuclear plant.
The first shipment of grain from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa since the war began has docked in Djibouti. The UN-chartered vessel Brave Commander is carrying 23,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat and will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes. The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5m people for a month.
Ukraine has deployed a fleet of dummy rockets to trick Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range missiles on pointless targets, according to reports. At least 10 Russian cruise missiles have reportedly been fired by Moscow’s naval fleet in the Black Sea at the dummy targets, which are made of wood but look like US-supplied advanced rocket launcher systems when spotted by Russian drones, the Washington Post reports.
Russia is reportedly struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine and has expanded recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit and by tapping into prisons. The Pentagon believes that any more recruits added may not effectively expand overall combat power by the end of the year, according to a US official.
Several brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces increased the weight of artillery fires in frontline sectors across southern Ukraine early on Monday, according to British intelligence. Ukrainian long-range precision strikes continue to disrupt Russian resupply; however, it is not yet possible to confirm the extent of Ukrainian advances, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest report.
Germany and France have issued a joint warning against a ban on tourist visas for Russians, saying such a step would be counter-productive. The split on tourist visas will be at the heart of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday, as they discuss what further steps they can take to sanction Russia for its six-month old invasion of Ukraine.
Hello, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still with you today on the Russia-Ukraine war blog. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson has been hit by a partial power outage, Russian state news agencies have cited pro-Russian officials as saying.
Russian media also reported a partial shutdown of the water supply, as well as traffic lights and building lights going off.
It comes after Ukrainian forces launched their long-awaited counteroffensive to take back the southern region from Russia.
Russia has condemned the destruction of Soviet war memorials in the three Baltic states and accused them of persecuting their Russian-speaking minorities.
In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry accused Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia of being guilty of xenophobia and said they were treating their ethnic Russian minorities as “second-class people”.
It claimed Russian-language media, kindergartens and schools were being shut down.
Such “Russophobic approaches” will “certainly affect the state of bilateral relations with these countries, which are already in complete decline”, the ministry said.
First Ukraine grain ship docks in Africa
The first shipment of grain from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa since the war began has docked in Djibouti.
The UN-chartered vessel Brave Commander, carrying 23,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat, set sail from the Ukrainian port of Yuzhne, east of Odesa, two weeks ago.
The vessel is the first specially chartered by the UN’s World Food Programme to unblock food shipments stuck after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes. The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month.
Michael Dunford, the UN’s World Food Programme director for eastern Africa, said:
This shipment, the first of many we hope, will allow WFP to deliver this grain to 1.53 million people in Ethiopia and cover their needs for a month. It’s a start but we must continue to keep the food flowing to save lives across the region.
Updated
EU to distribute 5m iodide tablets to Ukrainians amid nuclear risk
The European Commission has said it will donate 5.5m potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine amid fears that fighting in the area of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could lead to nuclear catastrophe.
The Commission said it had received a request from the Ukrainian government for potassium iodide tablets “as a preventative safety measure” to increase the level of protection around the nuclear plant.
The tablets would be used “in limited scenarios to avoid that inhaled or swallowed radioactive iodine is absorbed by the thyroid”, the commission said.
The EU is “pre-emptively” delivering the potassium iodide tablets to Ukraine to offer people protection “in case of exposure to high levels of radiation”, the commissioner for crisis management, Janez Lenarčič, said in a statement.
He added:
No nuclear power plant should ever be used as a war theatre. It is unacceptable that civilian lives are put in danger.
Updated
A key adviser to Ukraine’s president has accused Russian forces of deliberately shelling corridors for a team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia was attempting to force the mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporarily occupied by Moscow’s forces.
He also reiterated Ukraine’s call to demilitarise the area around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
🇷🇺 is deliberately shelling corridors for IAEA mission to reach ZNPP. All to offer passage through Crimea/ORDLO. 🇺🇦 position is the same. Access only through controlled territory of 🇺🇦. Nuclear power plant demilitarization. Ru-troops withdrawal. Only ua-personnel at the station.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) August 30, 2022
Ukraine using decoy rockets to trick Russia into wasting weapons, reports say
Ukraine has deployed a fleet of dummy rockets to trick Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range missiles on pointless targets, according to reports.
The decoys are made of wood but look like US-supplied advanced rocket launcher systems when spotted by Russian drones, the Washington Post reports.
At least 10 Russian cruise missiles have reportedly been fired by Moscow’s naval fleet in the Black Sea at the dummy targets, a senior Ukrainian official told the paper.
A source said:
When the UAVs see the battery, it’s like a VIP target.
The initial success of the replicas has left Ukraine to make more of these wooden decoys in a bid to neutralise Russia’s artillery advantage on the battlefield.
In addition, the destruction of Ukraine’s fleet of fake Himars may have been behind Russia’s claims that it has taken out a large number of the systems.
Updated
Kremlin says military operation going to plan as Ukrainian counterattack begins
The Kremlin has insisted that its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine is going to plan despite the news that Kyiv’s troops have launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country.
At his regular briefing with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was asked to respond to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comments that Russian troops should flee after his military reportedly broke through several of their defences on Tuesday.
Peskov replied:
The special military operation continues, it continues methodically, and in co-ordination with the current plans. All objectives will be fulfilled.
He also commented on calls by some European leaders for a ban on tourist visas for Russians, describing the proposals as “irrational” and the latest manifestation of the west’s anti-Russian agenda.
He said Europe’s actions towards Russia were “bordering on insanity” adding:
Of course, such decisions cannot go unanswered.
Updated
Ukrainian troops have launched a counterattack in southern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, as he vowed to take back Russian-controlled areas, starting with Kherson.
The Ukrainian president told the Russian military to flee after his military broke through several Russian defences on Tuesday.
“There will be no place [for Russian troops] on Ukrainian land,” he said during his latest address posted to Telegram.
Radiation levels at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain normal, according to Russia’s defence ministry.
In a statement, the ministry accused Ukrainian forces of firing two artillery shells into the territory of the nuclear power plant.
It also claimed that it had a downed Ukrainian drone had crashed into the roof of a building storing nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
It is not possible to independently verify these claims.
Summary
It is just past 1pm in Ukraine. Here is what you might have missed:
Germany and France have issued a joint warning against a ban on tourist visas for Russians, saying such a step would be counter-productive, reports Reuters. The split on tourist visas will be at the heart of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday, as they discuss what further steps they can take to sanction Russia for its six-month old invasion of Ukraine. Defence ministers meeting in Prague are likely to agree in principle on the less controversial step of organising joint military training missions for Ukrainian troops.
Russia’s Gazprom has informed Engie it is reducing its gas deliveries, starting Tuesday, due to a disagreement between the parties over contracts, adding to concerns related to energy supplies, the French utility company said.
At least four people were killed and four wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv, the regional governor said. Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Oleh Synehubov said:”As a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, at least 4 people died and 4 more were injured.”
European Union defence ministers are set to pave the way for the establishment of an EU training mission for Ukrainian forces, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said. Reuters reports that Borrell said: “The situation on the ground continues to be very bad. Ukraine needs our support, and we will continue providing support. A general, overall political agreement (on the training mission) is what I think we have to get today … I hope we will have a political green light for this mission.”
Russia has faced “numerous failures” with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to a senior US administration official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the US understood that Russia had received the delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over several days this month. The official said it is likely to be part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of such vehicles, reports Reuters.
Russian forces have killed two people and injured four others in Donetsk, the region’s governor said on Telegram. Pavlo Kyrylenko said the two people were killed in Rozdolne and Pivnichne.
Ukrainian troops are mounting a long-awaited counteroffensive in the southern region of Kherson, military officials have said. “Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region,” Ukraine’s southern command spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Monday. She declined to provide more details about the new offensive but said Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia’s southern logistical routes had “unquestionably weakened the enemy”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, added in a Monday evening address: “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. The occupiers should know: we will oust them to the border. To our border, the line of which has not changed.”
Senior adviser to Ukraine’s president Oleksiy Arestovych described the counteroffensive as a “planned slow operation to grind the enemy”. In an update posted to his official Telegram account, Arestovych said: “We do not fight for show-offs and high-profile phrases as an enemy. We fight for a cause. And this thing takes time and effort. Therefore, be patient. This process will not be very fast, but will end with the installation of the Ukrainian flag over all the settlements of Ukraine.”
Kyiv’s forces have broken through Russian defences in several sectors of the frontline near the city of Kherson, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy claimed. Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian forces were also shelling the ferries in the Kherson region that Moscow is using to supply Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnieper River. A separate Ukrainian military source told CNN that its forces have taken back four villages near the city of Kherson after breaking through the frontline in three places, with the main “target” being Kherson. The operation began with heavy shelling of Russian positions and the rear, forcing them to flee, the source was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian forces have heightened artillery fire in the south, according to British intelligence. Several brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces increased the weight of artillery fires in front line sectors across southern Ukraine early on Monday, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest report. Ukrainian long-range precision strikes also continue to disrupt Russian resupply.
A Ukrainian barrage of rockets left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region without water or power, officials at the Russian-appointed local authority told Russia’s RIA news agency. The town lies just to the east of the city of Kherson.
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog arrived in Kyiv on Monday night en route to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday. “We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted. Missiles and shells are frequently hitting areas around the power station and nearby towns, prompting fears it may be too dangerous for the mission to proceed.
The Kremlin said the IAEA mission was “necessary” but has ruled out vacating the site. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Ukraine expects the IAEA delegation to “state the facts” regarding the violation of all nuclear safety protocols, adding that Russia “is putting not only Ukraine but also the entire world at threat of risk of a nuclear accident”.
Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located, according to Ukraine’s armed forces. Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also appeared to confirm the reports on his Telegram channel alongside a video of firefighters dousing burning cars.
Russia is struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine and has expanded recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit and by tapping into prisons. “Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill-trained,” a Pentagon official told journalists on Monday. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, decreed last week that his army would increase by about 10%, to 1.15 million service personnel, starting January next year.
Ukrainian officials have warned politicians, experts and opinion leaders not to speculate about the progress of a military counteroffensive. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Nataliya Humenyuk, said the operation in Kherson needed “silence” as media attention could affect the results. Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, added it was necessary to wait for official statements from Ukraine’s ministry of defence and army. “I understand our wishes and dreams … But war is not ‘content’. Let’s filter information and work professionally out of respect for our defenders,” he wrote on Telegram.
Updated
EU member states split on Russia visa ban
Germany and France have issued a joint warning against a ban on tourist visas for Russians, saying such a step would be counter-productive, reports Reuters.
The split on tourist visas will be at the heart of a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday, as they discuss what further steps they can take to sanction Russia for its six-month old invasion of Ukraine.
Defence ministers meeting in Prague are likely to agree in principle on the less controversial step of organising joint military training missions for Ukrainian troops.
France and Germany said in the joint memo seen by Reuters:
We caution against far-reaching restrictions on our visa policy, in order to prevent feeding the Russian narrative and trigger unintended rallying-around the flag effects and/or estranging future generations.
Others, in particular eastern and Nordic member states, have argued strongly for a ban.
Denmark’s foreign minister Jeppe Kofod said last week:
It is very provocative to me that you see Russian men on European beaches in southern Europe and at the same time Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 years cannot even leave their country but have to fight for their freedom.
We think it is right that we together in Europe can limit and cut off tourists from Russia and it would send a clear message to (President) Putin.
Russians mostly enter the EU via the land borders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland, Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said last week, adding that these countries may act on their own if the EU does not agree on a union-wide ban.
Updated
Russia’s Gazprom has informed Engie it is reducing its gas deliveries, starting today, due to a disagreement between the parties over contracts, adding to concerns related to energy supplies, the French utility company said.
A statement reported by Reuters said:
As previously announced, Engie had already secured the volumes necessary to meet its commitments towards its customers and its own requirements, and put in place several measures to significantly reduce any direct financial and physical impacts that could result from an interruption to gas supplies by Gazprom.
However, a French energy ministry official said the state-owned firm’s move to further reduce its gas deliveries to Engie does not jeopardise the security of France’s energy supplies.
The official said:
We prepared for it through the diversification of our supply sources and through the maximum replenishment of our stocks.
Updated
Vitaliy Kim, the head of the Mykolayiv regional military administration, said today there has been heavy fighting in the south of the country.
In a video posted on Twitter, Kim said military aid for drones and cars had decreased and urged volunteers to “put in the work again” to help get more equipment because the “Kherson liberation is not far off”.
As for the events. We will not comment on anything. Only official military reports.
— Віталій Кім / Vitaliy Kim (@vitalij_kim) August 30, 2022
What else do I want to say, a large part of our country got used to the war. And now the aid to our military has decreased, as far as the supply of drones, cars, etc. pic.twitter.com/Q0zFPKeYRz
Updated
At least four dead after Russian shelling in Kharkiv, says regional governor
At least four people were killed and four wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv today, the regional governor said.
Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Oleh Synehubov said:
As a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, at least 4 people died and 4 more were injured.
Kharkiv is the country’s second-largest city and was the subject of fierce attacks in the early stages of the war.
Updated
European Union defence ministers are set to pave the way for the establishment of an EU training mission for Ukrainian forces, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said today.
Reuters reports that Borrell said:
The situation on the ground continues to be very bad. Ukraine needs our support, and we will continue providing support.
A general, overall political agreement (on the training mission) is what I think we have to get today … I hope we will have a political green light for this mission.
His comments in Prague come hours before talks are set to take place in the city between foreign ministers to discuss a variety of issues, including a possible EU visa ban for Russian tourists.
Updated
Russia has faced “numerous failures” with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to a senior US administration official.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the US understood that Russia had received the delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over several days this month.
The official said it is likely to be part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of such vehicles, reports Reuters.
“We assess that Russia intends to use these Iranian UAVs, which can conduct air-to-surface attacks, electronic warfare, and targeting, on the battlefield in Ukraine,” the official said.
In July, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the US has information that shows Iran is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones.
Updated
Isobel Koshiw reports for us from Kyiv:
The long-awaited counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops appears to have started in the southern region of Kherson, with the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, saying: “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee.”
Ukrainian troops have broken through Russian defences in several areas of the frontline near the city of Kherson, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy claimed.
Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video interview Ukrainian forces were also shelling the ferries in the Kherson region that Moscow is using to supply Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnieper River. But he cautioned Ukrainians against expecting a quick win in the south.
Read more: Zelenskiy tells Russian forces to flee as Ukraine counteroffensive begins in Kherson
Updated
Russian forces have killed two people and injured four others in Donetsk, the region’s governor said on Telegram.
Pavlo Kyrylenko said the two people were killed in Rozdolne and Pivnichne.
⚡️ Governor: Russian forces kill 2 civilians, injure 4 in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 29.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 30, 2022
Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that Russian forces killed two civilians in the communities of Rozdolne and Pivnichne.
Updated
Russian-installed authorities in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar accused Ukrainian troops today of once again shelling the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Russia’s Tass news agency said.
The city authorities said two shells exploded near a spent fuel storage building at the plant, Reuters reports.
Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of attacking Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
It is set to be visited this week by a mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday.
Updated
Summary so far
It is 9am in Kyiv. Here is where we stand:
Ukrainian troops are mounting a long-awaited counteroffensive in the southern region of Kherson, military officials have said. “Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region,” Ukraine’s southern command spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Monday. She declined to provide more details about the new offensive but said Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia’s southern logistical routes had “unquestionably weakened the enemy”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, added in a Monday evening address: “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. The occupiers should know: we will oust them to the border. To our border, the line of which has not changed.”
Senior adviser to Ukraine’s president Oleksiy Arestovych described the counteroffensive as a “planned slow operation to grind the enemy”. In an update posted to his official Telegram account, Arestovych said: “We do not fight for show-offs and high-profile phrases as an enemy. We fight for a cause. And this thing takes time and effort. Therefore, be patient. This process will not be very fast, but will end with the installation of the Ukrainian flag over all the settlements of Ukraine.”
Kyiv’s forces have broken through Russian defences in several sectors of the frontline near the city of Kherson, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy claimed. Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian forces were also shelling the ferries in the Kherson region that Moscow is using to supply Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnieper River. A separate Ukrainian military source told CNN that its forces have taken back four villages near the city of Kherson after breaking through the frontline in three places, with the main “target” being Kherson. The operation began with heavy shelling of Russian positions and the rear, forcing them to flee, the source was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian forces have heightened artillery fire in the south, according to British intelligence. Several brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces increased the weight of artillery fires in front line sectors across southern Ukraine early on Monday, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest report. Ukrainian long-range precision strikes also continue to disrupt Russian resupply.
A Ukrainian barrage of rockets left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region without water or power, officials at the Russian-appointed local authority told Russia’s RIA news agency. The town lies just to the east of the city of Kherson.
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog arrived in Kyiv on Monday night en route to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday. “We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted. Missiles and shells are frequently hitting areas around the power station and nearby towns, prompting fears it may be too dangerous for the mission to proceed.
The Kremlin said the IAEA mission was “necessary” but has ruled out vacating the site. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Ukraine expects the IAEA delegation to “state the facts” regarding the violation of all nuclear safety protocols, adding that Russia “is putting not only Ukraine but also the entire world at threat of risk of a nuclear accident”.
Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located, according to Ukraine’s armed forces. Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also appeared to confirm the reports on his Telegram channel alongside a video of firefighters dousing burning cars.
Russia is struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine and has expanded recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit and by tapping into prisons. “Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill-trained,” a Pentagon official told journalists on Monday. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, decreed last week that his army would increase by about 10%, to 1.15 million servicemen, starting January next year.
Ukrainian officials have warned politicians, experts and opinion leaders not to speculate about the progress of a military counteroffensive. Spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Nataliya Humenyuk, said the operation in Kherson needed “silence” as media attention could affect the results. Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, added it was necessary to wait for official statements from Ukraine’s ministry of defence and army. “I understand our wishes and dreams … But war is not ‘content’. Let’s filter information and work professionally out of respect for our defenders,” he wrote on Telegram.
Updated
Kherson counteroffensive 'planned slow operation to grind the enemy'
Senior adviser to Ukraine’s president Oleksiy Arestovych has given more details on the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson.
In an update posted to his official Telegram account, Arestovych said:
Today began an active part of the liberation of the south from the Russian invaders.
This is a planned slow operation to grind the enemy, saving the lives of our military and civilians.
Of course, many would like a large-scale offensive with news about the capture by our military of a settlement in an hour. But we don’t fight like that. Yes, funds are limited.
We do not fight for show-offs and high-profile phrases as an enemy. We fight for a cause. And this thing takes time and effort.
Therefore, be patient. This process will not be very fast, but will end with the installation of the Ukrainian flag over all the settlements of Ukraine.”
Updated
Russia is reportedly struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine and has expanded recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit and by tapping into prisons.
“Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill-trained,” a Pentagon official told journalists on Monday.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, decreed last week that his army would increase by about 10%, to 1.15 million servicemen, starting January next year.
After experiencing significant setbacks and heavy troop losses in six months after invading Ukraine, the Pentagon believes that “this effort is unlikely to succeed, as Russia has historically not met personnel and strength targets,” the official said.
The Pentagon’s conclusion is that any more recruits added may not effectively expand overall combat power by the end of the year, according to the official.
Ukrainian forces heighten artillery fire in south: UK MoD
Several brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces increased the weight of artillery fires in frontline sectors across southern Ukraine early on Monday, according to British intelligence.
Ukrainian long-range precision strikes continue to disrupt Russian resupply; however, it is not yet possible to confirm the extent of Ukrainian advances, the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest report.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 30 August 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) August 30, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/q3wYzVuyKz
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/gG1qJfkkwS
The full report reads:
Since the start of August, Russia has made significant efforts to reinforce its force on the western bank of the Dnipro River around Kherson.
The Southern Military District’s (SMD) 49th Combined Arms Army has highly likely been augmented with components of the Eastern Military District’s (EMD) 35th Combined Arms Army.
Most of the units around Kherson are likely under-manned and are reliant upon fragile supply lines by ferry and pontoon bridges across the Dnipro.
This integration of SMD and EMD units suggests a significant reorganisation of Russia’s force in Ukraine.
There is a realistic possibility that Russia has moved to rationalise the several, semi-independent, operational commands which contributed to its poor performance early in the invasion.
If Ukraine succeeds in undertaking sustained offensive operations, the cohesion of this untested structure will likely be a key factor in the sustainability of Russian defences in the south.”
Updated
A team of experts assembled by the UN nuclear watchdog will inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine from Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team arrived in Kyiv on Monday night.
Updated
UN team heads for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog have arrived in Kyiv en route to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday.
“We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted.
👷 @RafaelMGrossi and a team of experts & inspectors have set off for the IAEA Support & Assistance Mission to #Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ), to help ensure nuclear safety and security at #Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya NPP and undertake vital safeguards activities.
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) August 29, 2022
👉 https://t.co/IrcPxHuukI pic.twitter.com/0IzcLDYsxO
The IAEA added: “Rafael Grossi and a team of experts and inspectors have set off for the IAEA support and assistance mission to Zaporizhzhia (ISAMZ), to help ensure nuclear safety and security at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia NPP and undertake vital safeguards activities.”
Missiles and shells are frequently hitting areas around the power station and nearby towns, prompting fears it may be too dangerous for the mission to proceed.
The Kremlin said the IAEA mission was “necessary” but has ruled out vacating the site.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Ukraine expects the IAEA delegation to “state the facts” regarding the violation of all nuclear safety protocols, adding that Russia “is putting not only Ukraine but also the entire world at threat of risk of a nuclear accident”.
Russia claims Ukrainian offensive 'failed miserably'
Russia’s defence ministry acknowledged a new Ukrainian offensive had been launched in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions but said it had failed and the Ukrainians had suffered significant casualties, RIA news agency reported.
The “enemy’s offensive attempt failed miserably,” it said.
However, officials at the Russian-appointed local authority later told the outlet that a Ukrainian barrage of rockets left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka just east of the city of Kherson without water or power.
The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.
Kyiv's forces break through Russian defences near Kherson city
Kyiv’s forces have reportedly broken through Russian defences in several sectors of the frontline near the city of Kherson, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy has claimed.
“I should note today the (Russian) defences were broken through in a few hours,” Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video interview on Youtube.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Nataliya Humenyuk, said Ukraine’s forces had struck more than 10 sites in the past week and “unquestionably weakened the enemy” during a Monday briefing.
Humenyuk declined to give details, saying Russian forces in the south remained “quite powerful” and that the operation needed “silence” as media attention could affect the results. Her claims could not be independently corroborated.
Sergiy Khlan, a local deputy and adviser to the regional governor told Ukraine’s Pryamyi TV channel on Monday:
Today there was a powerful artillery attack on enemy positions in ... the entire territory of the occupied Kherson region.
This is the announcement of what we have been waiting for since the spring - it is the beginning of the end of the occupation of Kherson region.”
“What is happening now is a prepared, well-balanced start of a counteroffensive,” Khlan told Agence France-Presse.
A seperate Ukrainian military source told CNN that its forces have taken back four villages near the city of Kherson after breaking through the frontline in three places, with the main “target” being Kherson. The operation began with heavy shelling of Russian positions and the rear, forcing them to flee, the source was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian forces were also reportedly shelling the ferries in the Kherson region that Moscow is using to supply Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnieper river.
Ukraine mounts counteroffensive in Kherson
Ukrainian troops are mounting a long-awaited counteroffensive in the southern region of Kherson, military officials have said.
Ukraine’s southern command spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Monday:
Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region.”
The military official declined to provide more details about the new offensive but said Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia’s southern logistical routes had “unquestionably weakened the enemy”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, did not address the counteroffensive specifically during his Monday evening address but said:
If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. The occupiers should know: we will oust them to the border. To our border, the line of which has not changed.”
Those who surrendered would be treated under the Geneva conventions, he said, adding: “If they do not listen to me, they will deal with our defenders, who will not stop until they liberate everything that belongs to Ukraine.”
“Ukraine is returning its own. It will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea … This will happen.”
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next short while. Whether you’ve been following our coverage overnight or you’ve just dropped in, here are the latest lines.
The UN nuclear watchdog has assembled a team that is en route to visit Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this week, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said. “We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are mounting a long-awaited counteroffensive in the southern region of Kherson, military officials have said.
It is 7.30am in Kyiv. Here is where we stand:
Ukrainian troops are mounting a long-awaited counteroffensive in the southern region of Kherson, military officials have said. “Today we started offensive actions in various directions, including in the Kherson region,” Ukraine’s southern command spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, said on Monday. She declined to provide more details about the new offensive but said Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia’s southern logistical routes had “unquestionably weakened the enemy”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, added in a Monday evening address: “If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian military to flee. The occupiers should know: we will oust them to the border. To our border, the line of which has not changed.”
Kyiv’s forces have broken through Russian defences in several sectors of the frontline near the city of Kherson, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy claimed. Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian forces were also shelling the ferries in the Kherson region that Moscow is using to supply Russian-occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnieper river. A seperate Ukrainian military source told CNN that its forces have taken back four villages near the city of Kherson after breaking through the frontline in three places, with the main “target” being Kherson. The operation began with heavy shelling of Russian positions and the rear, forcing them to flee, the source was quoted as saying.
A Ukrainian barrage of rockets left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region without water or power, officials at the Russian-appointed local authority told Russia’s RIA news agency. The town lies just to the east of the city of Kherson.
A team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog arrived in Kyiv on Monday night en route to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, said a team will visit the plant from Wednesday to Saturday. “We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Grossi tweeted. Missiles and shells are frequently hitting areas around the power station and nearby towns, prompting fears it may be too dangerous for the mission to proceed.
The Kremlin said the IAEA mission was “necessary” but has ruled out vacating the site. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Ukraine expects the IAEA delegation to “state the facts” regarding the violation of all nuclear safety protocols, adding that Russia “is putting not only Ukraine but also the entire world at threat of risk of a nuclear accident”.
Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located, according to Ukraine’s armed forces. Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also appeared to confirm the reports on his Telegram channel alongside a video of firefighters dousing burning cars.
Russia is struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine and has expanded recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit and by tapping into prisons. “Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill-trained,” a Pentagon official told journalists on Monday. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, decreed last week that his army would increase by about 10%, to 1.15 million servicemen, starting January next year.
Ukrainian officials have warned politicians, experts and opinion leaders not to speculate about the progress of a military counteroffensive. Spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, Nataliya Humenyuk, said the operation in Kherson needed “silence” as media attention could affect the results. Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, added it was necessary to wait for official statements from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence and army. “I understand our wishes and dreams … But war is not ‘content’. Let’s filter information and work professionally out of respect for our defenders,” he wrote on Telegram.
Russia has alleged a second Ukrainian was involved in the killing of Darya Dugina. Russia’s FSB security service accused without evidence a second Ukrainian citizen of acquiring fake documents and preparing the car bomb that killed the daughter of an ultranationalist Russian ideologue this month.
Gas shortages across Europe are likely to last for several winters to come, the chief executive of Shell has said, raising the prospect of continued energy rationing as governments push to develop alternative supplies. Speaking at a press conference in Norway on Monday, Ben van Beurden said the situation could persist for several years.
Western technology companies, including Ericsson and Nokia announced plans for complete exits from Russia on Monday, following Dell’s withdrawal last week.
