© Reuters. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, Iran July 19, 2022. President Web site/WANA (West Asia Information Company)/Handout by way of REUTERS
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(Reuters) – Ukrainian troops bolstered by stepped-up provides of Western army help on Monday began a long-awaited counter-offensive to retake territory within the south from Russian forces, the Ukrainian army stated.
NUCLEAR PLANT
* A staff from the U.N. nuclear watchdog (IAEA) is heading to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the company’s chief stated, as Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of shelling in its neighborhood, stirring fears of a radiation catastrophe.
* Officers put in by Russia in Ukraine stated {that a} Ukrainian missile strike punched a gap within the roof of a gasoline depot on the Zaporizhzhia plant, the RIA Novosti information company reported.
* Russia’s defence ministry stated Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone that was attempting to assault the Zaporizhzhia reactor advanced.
* The White Home stated on Monday that Russia ought to comply with a demilitarized zone across the plant.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm both of the stories.
FIGHTING
* Russia has shipped a battery of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles from Syria to a Russian port close to Crimea, in line with an Israeli satellite tv for pc imaging firm, in an obvious try to bolster its air defences within the struggle with Ukraine.
* Britain’s defence ministry stated it was not clear how Russia would obtain an introduced giant enhance in its armed forces however the increase was unlikely to considerably enhance its fight energy in Ukraine.
* Russian shelling hit residential areas of the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Mykolaiv on Monday, killing two individuals and destroying properties, metropolis officers and witnesses stated.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the battlefield stories.
HUMAN IMPACT OF WAR
* Hundreds of individuals fleeing Russia-occupied areas of south Ukraine are arriving in a metropolis close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear website regardless of fears of a radiation leak from combating. For a lot of, shelling of their hometowns is a extra pressing hazard.
* Throughout Ukraine, authorities are constructing bomb shelters and repairing 1000’s of buildings broken by Russian shelling earlier than the nation’s almost 6 million school-aged youngsters return to high school in September – in particular person or on-line.
* Bogdan and Olga have had no electrical energy, gasoline or working water for greater than a month of their village close to the frontline in jap Ukraine, however they haven’t any plans to depart. They survive on the meals they’ve grown, baking bread in an oven within the backyard and drawing water from a effectively.
DIPLOMACY, ECONOMY
* Germany faces the “bitter actuality” that Russia is not going to restore gasoline provides to the nation, the German financial system minister stated on Monday, forward of deliberate halt by state vitality big Gazprom (MCX:) of exports to Europe by way of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of financial terrorism as the price of Europe’s vitality disaster spiralled with Germany on the hook for at the very least 19 billion euros to bail out its largest importer of Russian gasoline.
* European Union overseas ministers, assembly in Prague on Tuesday and Wednesday, could agree tightening the issuance of visas for Russians and begin debate on a wider ban on vacationer visas although there is no such thing as a settlement on that, EU officers stated.
* Germany will sustain its assist for Ukraine “for so long as it takes”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated, calling for an enlargement of the European Union to finally embody Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
* Russia’s oil output has exceeded expectations within the wake of the struggle in Ukraine however Moscow will discover it more and more tough to uphold manufacturing as Western sanctions start to chew, the top of the Worldwide Vitality Company stated on Monday.
* Ukraine’s agricultural exports might rise to six million-6.5 million tonnes in October, double the quantity seen in July, as its sea ports progressively reopen, the nation’s agriculture minister stated on Monday.
