There are still concerns about a possible radiation leak at the Zaporoží nuclear power plant. Ukraine's state energy operator has warned that there is a "risk of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances" at the Russian-occupied power plant. Authorities distributed iodine tablets to residents living near the plant in case of radiation.
Russia and Ukraine on Saturday exchanged new accusations of mutual shelling of the area around Europe's largest nuclear power plant. Ukraine's state-run nuclear company Energoatom said Moscow troops had "repeatedly shelled" the plant's site over the past day. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian troops "fired three times on the territory of the station" in the last day.
The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is trying to negotiate access to the plant for an urgent inspection mission "to help stabilize nuclear safety and security there." Energoatom chief Petro Kotin told the Guardian the visit could come before the end of the month, but Ukraine's Energy Minister Lana Zerkal told a local radio station she was not convinced Russia was negotiating in good faith.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a statement on Ukraine's Aviation Day in which he pledged that Kyiv troops would "destroy the potential of the occupiers step by step." Ukraine's president vowed that Russian "invaders will die like dew on the sun."
Russia has likely stepped up its attacks in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region over the past five days, according to British intelligence. Pro-Russian separatists were most likely advancing towards the center of the village of Pisky, near Donetsk airport, but Russian forces have made little territorial gains overall, according to the latest report from the British Ministry of Defence.
Russia has blocked a deal at the UN aimed at strengthening the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The failure to agree on a joint statement over Moscow's objection to the control clause over the Zaporozhye factory is the latest blow to hopes of maintaining the arms control regime and keeping a lid on the reignited arms race.
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