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Ukraine launches strike on Russian base near nuclear plant
Ukraine said on Friday it had struck a Russian base in Energodar, the city where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, is located.
“In the localities of Kherson and Energodar, precise strikes by our troops destroyed three enemy artillery systems, as well as an ammunition depot” killing many Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian army said in a statement.
The strike comes the day after a visit by a team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Ukrainian army also claimed that the Russian forces had evacuated “all their military equipment from the site of the plant” before the arrival of the IAEA mission, several of whose members have remained at the plant.
The Zaporizhzhia power plant, the largest in Europe, fell to Russian troops in March, shortly after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, and its site was targeted by several bombardments raising fears of a nuclear disaster .
Both Kyiv and Moscow reject responsibility for those strikes.
G7 plans Russia oil price cap, while EU wants Russia gas price cap
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial powers on Friday pledged to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil in a bid to limit the Kremlin’s revenues and ability to fund its war in Ukraine, while also curtailing the war’s impact on energy prices and inflation.
The ministers said they would impose the cap by barring insurance or shipping companies from helping Russia sell oil at prices above the set limit.
The decision follows discussions at the group’s summit earlier this year and aims at solving one of the vexing problems with sanctions against Russia: Global oil prices have risen on fears of restricted supply, which has only fattened the Kremlin’s take.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has said Russia will refuse to sell oil to countries or companies that observe the cap.
Meanwhile the EU’s top executive said Friday that the bloc’s electricity market “is no longer operating” amid the Ukraine war, and proposed a price cap on Russian pipeline gas.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine for the energy crisis and the dramatic rise in gas and electricity prices.
She said Europe’s priority is to save energy because reserves are scarce, although the 27-nation bloc has already reached its goal of filling gas storage to 80% of capacity ahead of the winter months. The target date was 1 November.
NATO show of force as B-52s fly over Stockholm
American B-52 bombers symbolically flew over Stockholm at low altitude on Friday, as part of the intensification of joint exercises organised after Sweden applied to join NATO.
Accompanied by Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters, two US Air Force B-52s flew over the Nordic capital around 12:15 pm local time.
While exercises with the American strategic bombers have taken place recently, this was the first time that an overflight of this type has been organised, a spokesperson for the Swedish military said.
Since the announcement of Sweden and Finland’s candidacy for NATO in May, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and other Western powers have multiplied exercises as a sign of military partnership in recent months.
A large American amphibious assault ship, the USS Kearsarge, dropped anchor in early June in Stockholm harbour, before maritime exercises offshore.
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