Russian bombing intensifies near Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced his arrival in Ukraine on September 3 as part of ongoing efforts to “help prevent a nuclear accident” amid shelling near a major nuclear power plant, while Kiev reported new Russian attacks on infrastructure and Moscow strengthened its own air defenses near the border.

General Director of the IAEA Rafael Grossi he posted on Twitter before noon local time, he began his tenth visit to Ukraine with meetings with senior officials as the Russians still control Europe’s largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhya in southern Ukraine.

A day earlier, Grossi emphasized the importance of his mission by saying“I am on my way to Zaporizhzhya (nuclear power plant) in Ukraine to continue our assistance and help prevent a nuclear accident.”

Ukrainian officials reported multiple civilian deaths following overnight Russian attacks in Zaporizhzhya and an attack on the country’s railway infrastructure.

General Staff of Ukraine said about a quarter of the clashes with Russian forces in the past 24 hours took place in the east, near the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, where Russian troops have made significant gains in recent weeks.

Ukrainian Railways said on September 2 that he continued evacuation efforts for families in Pokrovsk, which is now only about 10 kilometers from the front line.

The state rail operator said on September 3 that an enemy drone hit a locomotive on a Korchakivka-Sumy train, but no injuries were reported. It also said overnight attacks targeted rail infrastructure in northeastern Sumi and southern Dnipropetrovsk.

Ukrainian officials said an 8-year-old boy and his mother were killed overnight in Zaporizhzhya region by Russian shelling.

the army of Ukraine said on September 3 that it shot down 27 of 35 Russian drones across the country overnight. He said air defenses were operating in Kiev, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy regions.

The Russian Defense Ministry said early on September 3 that it was deploying several air defense systems in the southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine’s central Kharkiv region, and in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kiev launched its surprise incursion last month past.

The governor of the Saratov region of Russia, Roman Busargin, said a man injured when a Ukrainian drone struck a residential building on August 26 died in hospital.

The head of the military administration of Ukraine in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, said one of seven victims of a Russian missile attack on the city in central Ukraine had since died.

Lysak said via Telegram on September 3 that Russian attacks resumed in the central area and damaged a local administration building.

Meanwhile, Reuters quote multiple anonymous sources said on September 3 that Russian oil refiner Gazpromneft suspended work at its Euro+ combined processing unit in Moscow after a fire two days earlier. The sources said the factory was expected to be back online within six days.

Via RFE/RL

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