After a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, Russia seems to be pooling its forces again. According to Ukrainian information, the Russian army is stepping up its attacks in Donbass. At the same time, they fired from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant at neighboring areas. The situation is "extremely tense".
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian armed forces, after regrouping their forces, have stepped up attacks in the east of the country. The General Staff in Kyiv said in its situation report that Ukraine had fended off Russian assault attempts in the direction of Bakhmut and in front of Donetsk in the past 24 hours. "After a regrouping, the enemy has resumed the attack on the Wuhlehirsk thermal power plant, and hostilities are continuing," it said. The information cannot be verified independently.
However, military experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have also observed that Russian troops are ending the breather they had after capturing the Sievarodonetsk/Lysychansk conurbation. At the moment it is still a matter of minor skirmishes. "If the operational break is actually over, the Russians will probably continue and intensify their attacks in the next 72 hours," says the ISW analysis.
Further west, Russia also continued to fire. However, there appears to have been no interruption there. According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian army is launching rockets at neighboring areas from the site of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. From there, the "Russian occupiers" attacked the neighboring Nikopol region, Petro Kotin, President of the Ukrainian atomic energy agency Energoatom, explained in the online service Telegram. The situation at the Zaporizhia power plant is "extremely tense" and is getting worse every day.
According to this, 500 Russian soldiers are currently controlling the plant. The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It has been occupied since early March by Russian troops, who took control of it days after they began invading Ukraine. In 2021, the power plant contributed around a fifth to electricity production in Ukraine.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not been able to visit the nuclear power plant since the beginning of the Russian invasion. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has repeatedly expressed his concern about nuclear safety in Zaporizhia.
The Ukrainian government is refusing a visit from IAEA representatives as long as the nuclear power plant is occupied by Russian troops. Such a visit will only be possible once Ukraine regains control of the plant, Energoatom said last week. Ukraine's nuclear agency argues that a visit by IAEA experts could legitimize Russia's presence.
