Military operations are intensifying. A night bombardment on a poultry farm in the occupied Ukrainian region of Lugansk left at least five people dead and 19 injured, Russian authorities said on Wednesday, accusing the Ukrainian army of carrying out the strike. A center for displaced people in the border region of Belgorod was also the target of a Ukrainian bombardment on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring two others, according to the region’s governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Five dead in Lugansk
“The bombing of the village of Karpaty (located 35 kilometers west of Lugansk, editor’s note) by Ukrainian armed groups […] claimed 24 casualties – five killed and 19 injured – and according to preliminary information was carried out with (American) HIMARS systems,” the Russian Monitoring Center for the security situation in the Lugansk region said on Telegram.
The strike was carried out, according to preliminary information, by a HIMARS multiple rocket launcher delivered by the United States to kyiv, the source said. “The enemy fired four rockets,” she said.
One dead in Ukrainian bombing of a center for displaced Russians
“Ukrainian armed forces fired artillery at a center for displaced people housing elderly civilians and children […] a security guard was killed and two people injured,” the Russian governor said on Telegram.
He accompanied his message with photographs of a damaged building with shattered windows, a ditch caused by an impact near the cabin of the security guard, and adults and children being evacuated in buses . Still according to the same source, the two injured are “in serious condition in intensive care” with “penetrating injuries to the abdomen” for one, to the chest for the other.
The Belgorod region has been the target of heavy shelling and assaults in recent weeks, as well as incursions by groups of Ukrainian soldiers. kyiv says it is preparing a major counter-offensive aimed at repelling Russian forces from the territories they occupy in Ukraine.
Brussels considers extending restrictions on Ukrainian grain
European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on Tuesday it was necessary to extend “at least” until the end of October the restrictions imposed by five EU states on the import of Ukrainian cereals. “It is necessary to extend (these restrictions) at least until the end of October, and ideally until the end of the year, after the harvests, otherwise we will have a huge problem,” he said. He nevertheless specified that the Commission had not yet decided on its position on the question.
In May 2022, the European Union had lifted customs duties on these products, which had boosted the influx of agricultural products into its territory. Several neighboring countries (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria) unilaterally banned the import of cereals from Ukraine in mid-April in the face of the saturation of silos on their territory and the collapse of local prices.
At the end of April, the European Commission had concluded an agreement with these four states and Romania providing until June 5 for “safeguard measures” to allow them to block the marketing of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower on their soil, provided that they do not impede their transit to other countries.
The International Atomic Energy Agency presents its principles to avoid an incident in Zaporizhia
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said he was “encouraged” by the reactions of Russia and Ukraine to the five “concrete principles” he presented on Tuesday to avoid a “nuclear accident” at the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporizhia. “This represents a step in the right direction regarding the safety of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” he told the UN Security Council, still insisting despite everything on his concerns of a nuclear “catastrophe”. .
Foremost among the principles presented by Rafael Grossi, “there must be no attack of any kind from or against the plant, in particular targeting reactors, spent fuel or other infrastructure, or personnel”. They also include that the site is not used to store heavy weapons or military personnel and that the plant cannot be disconnected from the electricity grid. Initially mentioned, the idea of a demilitarized zone around the site was abandoned in favor of realistic measures, acceptable to both kyiv and Moscow.
The Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, is located on the banks of the Dnieper River. It has been repeatedly targeted by gunfire and has been cut off from the power grid seven times since its capture by the Russian army on March 4, 2022. The International Atomic Energy Agency has a team on site , in order to ensure the safety of the installations.