Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv denies attacking Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with drone

Russian claims Ukrainian drone struck nuclear plant over weekend and damaged part of turbine hall wall

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• Almost 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Putin’s war on Ukraine, says GCHQ
• Russia has signed a military pact with the Taliban. Could its fighters start turning up in Ukraine?
• Nato to significantly bolster eastern flank against Russia after Putin’s threats
• Ukraine war is at ‘turning point’ and Kyiv has six months to seize initiative, says senior commander

Key Points

• Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone strike on the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, while Kyiv denied responsibility and the IAEA sought access to inspect the site.
• Vladimir Putin has questioned whether Romania drone strike was of Russian origin
• Polish PM Donald Tusk has called on Nato to take Russian provocations seriously
• Russia’s ballooning $28bn Ukraine war bill has forced Putin to make spending cuts

Kyiv denies Russian claim of attacking Zaporizhzhia reactor

Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone strike on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.

Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear company, said a drone struck part of reactor 6 on Saturday, damaging a turbine hall wall but causing no radiation leak.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed of the reported strike and was seeking access to inspect the damage directly. It said in its statement that “attacking nuclear sites is like playing with fire”.

Ukraine denied responsibility for the strike, accusing Moscow of spreading “propaganda” and using the occupied plant for “nuclear blackmail”. The Zaporizhzhia facility has repeatedly been at the centre of safety concerns since Russian forces seized it in the early weeks of the war.

Fuel shortages hit occupied Crimea amid Ukrainian attacks on supply routes

Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea have announced fuel vouchers and limits on petrol sales after weeks of Ukrainian strikes on supply routes and oil infrastructure.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-backed head of Crimea, said from Saturday that sales of 95-octane petrol at the peninsula’s two largest fuel chains would be available only through a voucher system, according to The Kyiv Independent.

Residents will also be restricted to purchasing no more than 20 litres of 92-octane fuel per vehicle. Aksyonov said fuel supplies would be prioritised for public and social transport and claimed shortages would stabilise within 30 days.

Ukraine has intensified strikes on fuel depots, rail links, and logistics infrastructure connecting occupied Crimea to Russian-controlled territory in recent months.

Russia reports fresh Ukrainian drone attacks on energy infrastructure

Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones struck energy and industrial targets across several regions overnight into Sunday, with damage reported in Saratov, Kirov, Belgorod, Rostov and Voronezh.

Saratov governor Roman Busargin said “civil infrastructure” had been damaged in the Volga region, which hosts several oil refineries and has faced repeated Ukrainian attacks in recent months. In the Kirov region, more than 1,300km from Ukrainian-held territory, governor Alexander Sokolov said drones hit a facility in the Urzhumsky district.

Governors in Belgorod, Rostov and Voronezh also reported strikes, while Belgorod authorities said three civilians were injured.

In occupied Crimea, Moscow-backed governor Sergei Aksyonov announced restrictions on petrol sales following continued Ukrainian attacks on fuel infrastructure near the peninsula.

Concerns mount that Belarus could be a launchpad for a new Russian offensive in Ukraine

Over four years ago, Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko allowed longtime ally Russia to use his territory to invade Ukraine. Now officials in Kyiv are warning that Lukashenko could again allow his land to serve as a launchpad for more attacks by the Kremlin's forces.

While Belarus has not contributed troops to battle, Lukashenko has backed President Vladimir Putin’s war effort by hosting Russia’s nuclear weapons and military infrastructure, as well as producing components for Moscow’s military industries. Earlier this month, the countries held joint drills of nuclear forces involving Russian weapons deployed in Belarus.

Read the full report here

500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Putin’s war on Ukraine, says GCHQ

500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Putin’s war on Ukraine, says GCHQ

Russia's Rosatom says Ukrainian drone struck Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom said on Saturday that a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

There was no damage to key equipment, but the attack left a hole in the wall of a turbine hall, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said. He was quoted as saying by Russian state media that the fact that the drone was controlled via fiber optics "completely rules out the possibility of an accidental impact."

Ukraine did not immediately comment on the incident.

The plant is in an area under Russian control since early in Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is not in service, but it needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly expressed alarm about the nuclear plant, Europe's biggest.

Watch: Russian drone strikes apartment building in Nato member Romania

Russia’s war spending to exceed budget by $28bn this year

Russia’s ballooning $28bn Ukraine war bill forces Putin to make spending cuts

Recap: Putin claims remarks about ending war were based on analysis of Russia's advances on battlefield

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on ⁠Friday his remarks on 9 May about the Ukraine war coming to an ⁠end ​were based ⁠on an analysis of Russian ⁠advances on the battlefield. Putin, though, ​refused ⁠to give any ‌specific timeline for an end to the war. ‌

He said Western ‌claims that Russia was preparing for war with Europe ⁠were lies. He added that Western media should feel ashamed of themselves for their coverage of what Moscow said was ‌a Ukrainian drone ​attack on a student ‌dormitory in ⁠Russian-controlled Luhansk which ⁠left 21 people dead.

Recap: Putin pushes Nato to the brink with drone attack in Romania

What happens next as Putin pushes Nato to the brink with drone attack in Romania?

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