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Issued on: 08/08/2022 – 06:47
Responding to reports of renewed Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia facility in Ukraine, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the nuclear states to commit to no first-use of the weapons. Follow FRANCE 24’s live coverage of the crisis. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
08:07am: Russia highly likely deploying anti-personnel mines in Donbas, UK intelligence says
Russia is highly likely to be deploying anti-personnel mines along its defensive lines in the Donbas region of Ukraine, Britain said on Monday, without citing evidence.
In Donetsk and Kramatorsk, Russia has highly likely attempted the employment of PFM-1 and PFM-1S scatterable anti-personnel mines, commonly called the ‘butterfly mine’, Britain’s defence ministry said on Twitter.
These are “deeply controversial, indiscriminate weapons,” the ministry said in the regular bulletin.
08:04am: Russia launches assault on eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka
Russian forces launched an assault on two key cities in the eastern Donetsk region over the weekend, Ukraine’s military and local officials said.
Both cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka had been considered key targets of Russia’s ongoing offensive across Ukraine’s east, with analysts saying Moscow needs to take Bakhmut if it is to advance on the regional hubs of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
07:50am: Russia-backed Kherson official dies after attack
Vitaly Gura, an official with the Russian occupying authorities in Ukraine’s Kherson region, has died of his injuries after an assassination attempt, local Moscow-backed authorities said.
Gura, the deputy chief of the Kakhovka district, was attacked at home on Saturday morning and was gravely wounded by bullets, a source in the Russian-backed administration told TASS news agency. Kakhovka is about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Kherson city.
Several assassination attempts have been reported against officials in Ukrainian regions seized by Russia since the start of its military operation in Ukraine in February.
7:44am: Four more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports
Four more ships loaded with grain set off from Ukrainian ports on Sunday, and an additional two on Monday morning, local and international officials said.
Among Sunday’s shipments, three vessels departed from Chornomorsk and one from Odesa, carrying around 170,000 tonnes of agriculture-related merchandise.
On Monday, a ship carrying 11,000 tonnes of soybeans also left the port of Yuzni for Italy, and a second loaded with 48,458 tonnes of corn departed from Chernomorsk for Turkey.
4:05am: UN chief says any attack on a nuclear plant is “suicidal”
Any attack on a nuclear plant is “suicidal”, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday after fresh shelling hit a huge atomic power complex in southern Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the latest strike at the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power site, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the war.
“Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing. I hope that those attacks will end, and at the same time I hope that the IAEA will be able to access the plant,” Guterres said.
12:25am: American actress Jessica Chastain meets President Zelensky
American actress Jessica Chastain visited Kyiv Sunday in a show of support and solidarity with the people of Ukraine. She also met President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked her for her “support”.
American actress @jes_chastain Chastain is visiting #Kyiv to support embattled #Ukraine. During the visit, she met with Ukraine’s President @ZelenskyyUa #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/19eqSIrQtG
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) August 7, 2022
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
