Russia Ukraine war: ‘We are preparing for nuclear explosion at Zaporizhzhia,’ MP warns

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has paid tribute to those serving in the navy on Ukrainian Navy Day from Odesa, in a video posted on Twitter.

‘I thank every warrior of the Ukrainian Navy – all sailors, all marines, all commanders of our Navy, artillerymen, naval aviators, drone operators, I thank the warriors of the river flotilla, river divisions. I thank you all!,” he wrote.

Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi said on Sunday his mission to Moscow on the Ukraine war was focused on humanitarian issues and had not involved any discussions of a peace plan.

Pope Francis had in May asked Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops’ conference, to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the war in Ukraine.

Zuppi met one of president Vladimir Putin’s advisers, Yuri Ushakov, and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, in Moscow this week. Earlier in June, he also visited Kyiv for talks with president Volodymyr Zelensky.

All the meetings “were important, especially in humanitarian aspects, which are what we have focused on. There is not a peace plan, not a mediation”, Zuppi told state broadcaster RAI.

“There is a big aspiration that the violence will end and that human life can be preserved, starting with the protection of the little ones”, he said, adding he would meet with Pope Francis in coming days to discuss the outcome of the meetings he had held.

Speaking to a religious delegation from the Patriarch of Constantinople on Friday, Pope Francis said there was no apparent end in sight to the war in Ukraine as his peace envoy wrapped up three days of talks in Moscow.

On the same day, a Vatican statement said the visit was “aimed at identifying humanitarian initiatives, which could open roads to peace”.

Francis has called repeatedly for an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has destroyed Ukrainian villages and towns, caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, and driven millions more from their homes.

During his Sunday blessing, Francis called on pilgrims to keep praying for peace, “even during summer time and especially for Ukrainian people”.

Ukraine is “preparing for a nuclear explosion” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a Ukrainian MP has said.

Kira Rudik said that Ukrainian authorities are “worried” about the potential for a nuclear explosion.

It comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that a “serious threat” remains at the plant, claiming Russia was “technically ready” to provoke a localised explosion at the facility.

Nuclear experts have repeatedly raised concerns about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia plant since Russia seized control of the facility last March.

However, Moscow has dismissed suggestions it plans to attack or sabotage the power plant.

Both sides have accused each other of shelling near the plant.

Rudik told Sky News: “I still cannot process that in the 21st century this is what is happening. We are preparing for a nuclear explosion and the whole world is watching and there is nothing that can be done.”

She added it is “unprecedented” that Russia is not allowing UN officials into specific areas of the plant to carry out checks.

Ukrainian military intelligence previously claimed Russian troops had mined the facility, and that Russian personnel are “gradually leaving the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said its experts have “so far found no visible indications of mines or other explosives currently planted” at the plant.

The United States is considering providing cluster munitions to Ukraine, the top American military officer said Friday.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. has been thinking about providing the munitions “for a long time.” He noted that Russian troops are using them on the battlefield in Ukraine and that Ukrainian forces have received cluster bombs from other allies and have deployed the arms.

Milley said at the National Press Club that discussions are continuing. “The Ukrainians have asked for it, other European countries have provided some of that, the Russians are using it,” Milley said. “There’s a decision making process ongoing.”

The number of military patrols around the site of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and in the nearby city of Enerhodar have gradually been decreasing, according to the Main Directorate of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence (GUR). Meanwhile, personnel remaining at the plant – which is occupied by Moscow’s forces – have been told to blame Ukraine “in case of any emergency situations”, says Kyiv.

“According to the latest data, the occupation contingent is gradually leaving the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” GUR said on the Telegram messaging app.

Drone footage shows smoke rising from a Russian tank after it was destroyed by Ukrainian forces in Northwest Bakhmut on Friday.

Prime minister Pedro Sánchez started Spain‘s six-month presidency of the European Union with a lightning visit to Kyiv on Saturday to underline the bloc’s support of Ukraine in the face of the invasion by Russia.

Sánchez arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train from Poland.

Zelensky announced the visit Thursday in an address to European leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels. He highlighted the symbolism of the visit and the importance of the next six months for Europe. He added that it was the moment to begin negotiations for Ukraine’s entry into the EU.

Speaking Friday in Brussels, Sánchez said, “The war in Ukraine will be one of the great priorities of our presidency, with the focus being on guaranteeing the unity (on the issue) among all member states.”

A 13-year-old boy was wounded in overnight shelling of Ukraine’s partially occupied southern Kherson province, said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, spokesman for the Ukrainian administration of the province.

The child was wounded when the Russian army shelled the village of Mylove on the banks of the Dnieper River in the Beryslav district, Mr Tolokonnikov said.

“The child was hospitalised, there is no threat to his life,” Mr Tolokonnikov added.

Shelling of the Kherson province continued on Sunday morning, wounding four people in the regional capital, Kherson.

The regional prosecutor’s office said that a residential area of the city was targeted by Russian troops operating in the Russia-occupied part of the Kherson province.

“At least four citizens were wounded, two of them due to a targeted strike on a high-rise building,” the office wrote on Telegram.

A memorial with the names of 501 identified in Bucha, Kyiv region, has opened.

People were seen visiting the memorial to the victims of executions and attacks on individual civilians by Russian troops.

Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory in February 2022, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis.