Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine claimed to have destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in a surge of fighting in the Russian-occupied south, fueling speculation Tuesday that its long-awaited counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of war was underway. Russia said it repelled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties.

The clashes took place in the country’s Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces rolled up major gains early in the war. But Ukrainian authorities kept the world guessing about their intentions.

KYIV (AP) — A U.N. nuclear watchdog team set off on an urgent mission Monday to safeguard the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant at the heart of fighting in Ukraine, a long-awaited trip that the world hopes will help avoid a radioactive catastrophe.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for the International Atomic Energy Agency experts who will visit the plant in a country where the 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation throughout the region, shocking the world and intensifying a global push away from nuclear energy.

29 August 2022; AA: A mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine this week, the agency's head said Monday.

"The day has come, @IAEAorg's Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is now on its way. We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility," Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Twitter.

28 August 2022; MEMO: Six more ships have left Ukrainian ports under the Istanbul grain export deal, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

Shipments from Ukrainian ports are continuing, said a ministry statement, adding: "Six more ships loaded with grain departed from Ukrainian ports this morning."

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — For 22 days, Serhiy Chornobryvets barely slept and rarely took off his red paramedic uniform. Day and night, he raced around his hometown of Mariupol, rescuing those wounded by the Russian bombs and shells that pummeled the southern Ukrainian city.

When he finally escaped Mariupol — whose residents endured some of the worst suffering of the war during a nearly three-month siege — he still did not rest. Instead, he joined an organization that sends medics to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is currently concentrated.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian rocket and artillery strikes hit areas across the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, as fears persisted that fighting in the vicinity could damage the plant and cause a radiation leak.

Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide river. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of them about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the plant.

27 August 2022; AA: More than a million tons of grain have been safely shipped from Ukrainian ports since the beginning of August under a historic deal, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

In July, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian ports for the export of Ukraine grain, which had been stuck for months due to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its seventh month.

DONETSK, August 27. /TASS/: People’s militia officers in the Donetsk People’s Republic killed a US national, Alan Joshua, who had been fighting for Ukraine, in combat on August 23, the DPR’s ombudsperson Darya Morozova said on Telegram on Saturday.

The DPR has notified US officials and the head of the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, of his death, she added.

KYIV, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Moscow and Kyiv traded fresh accusations on Saturday of shelling around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which has been a focus of international concern that fighting in the area could trigger a disaster.

Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, has been controlled by Russian forces since early March, soon after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Ukrainian staff continue to operate it and in recent weeks the two sides have traded blame for shelling near the plant.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Concern about the potential for a radiation leak at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant persisted as Ukrainian authorities said Saturday that Russian forces fired on areas just across the river and Russia claimed Ukrainian shelling hit a building where nuclear fuel is stored.

Authorities were distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in case of radiation exposure, which can cause health problems depending on the amount a person absorbs.