Ukrainian and Russian-installed officials reported shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine on Monday, with both sides blaming each other after the world nuclear watchdog warned of disaster if the fighting does not stop.
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FIGHTING/CASUALTIES
* Vladimir Rogov, the Russia-installed official in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, said that in the space of two hours some 25 heavy artillery strikes from M777 howitzers had landed near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and residential areas. The Russian-appointed administration blamed Ukrainian forces.
* Yevhen Yevtushenko, head of the administration of the Nikopol district, which lies across the river from Enerhodar, said the shelling was carried out by the Russians who were trying to make it look as if Ukraine was attacking the city.
* Reuters could not confirm battlefield reports independently.
PUNISHMENT
* A Russian-backed separatist court in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk charged five foreign nationals captured fighting with Ukrainian forces with being mercenaries, saying three could face the death penalty, Russian media reported.
* Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said prison authorities had thrown him into a punishment cell for a minor rules infraction after he tried to encourage fellow inmates to form a trade union.
DIPLOMACY
* Russia's defence ministry said British reconnaissance aircraft violated the Russian air border near the Cape Svyatoy Nos between the Barents Sea and the White Sea and a Russian fighter jet forced it out.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu about conditions for safe operations at Zaporizhzhia, the UN and Russia said.
* Russia said it would do "everything necessary" to allow specialists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the plant. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN could provide logistics and security support if both Russian and Ukraine agree.
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said while there was room for a European-level debate on banning Russian tourists, it was important not to make life harder for Kremlin opponents to flee Russia.
* President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ready to sell advanced weapons to allies globally and cooperate in developing military technology, nearly six months into the Ukraine war in which his army has performed worse than expected.
* North Korean state media said Putin told leader Kim Jong Un the two countries would expand "comprehensive and constructive" relations.
* New Zealand is sending 120 military personnel to Britain to help train Ukrainians in front-line combat, the government said.
* Russia's space agency unveiled a physical model of what a planned new Russian-built space station will look like, suggesting Moscow is serious about abandoning the International Space Station (ISS) and going it alone.
QUOTE
"I come here, just to sit and breathe and think about life," Mykhailo, 79, told Reuters, sitting under a tree in the eastern city of Bahmut, which is under regular Russian bombardment.
"If we die, then that's how it is."
Australian Associated Press
