Russia and Ukraine continue to trade blame over the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. President Zelenskyy said any "radiation incident" could easily affect the rest of Europe. Follow DW for the latest.
© Smoliyenko Dmytro/Ukrinform/ABACA/picture allianceUkraine and Russia both claim to want the IAEA to inspect Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, but both are arguing over the route they should take to get thereUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his overnight video address that a "catatstrophe" at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine could threaten the whole of Europe.
"Under the cover of the plant, the occupiers are shelling nearby cities and communities," Zelenskyy said. "Any radiation incident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP can affect the countries of the European Union, Turkey, Georgia and countries from more distant regions. Everything depends solely on the direction and speed off the wind."Zelenskyy called for "new tough sanctions" against Russia and told the West it shouldn't give in to what he called "nuclear blackmail."
"All Russian troops must immediately be withdrawn from the plant and neighboring areas without any conditions," he said.
Russia took control of the area surrounding the site early in its invasion of Ukraine, in March.
Since late July, though, the area has been the target of several military strikes, with Russia and Ukraine blaming each other for these.
The fighting was the subject of an emergency UN Security Council meeting last week, and the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency is urgently seeking to secure access to inspect the site.
Both Russia and Ukraine claim to be willing to cooperate with this. However, both object to the route the observers might take to get there. Ukraine says it won't accept an IAEA team visiting via Russia and Russian-controlled areas. Russia says it would not be safe for an IAEA team to cross the front lines in order to reach Zaporizhzhia from the Ukrainian side.
When and if an IAEA team will be able to visit, and by what route, remains unclear. The UN has said it has the logistics and security capacity to arrange such a visit if both sides can agree.
Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on August 16.
First grain ship bound for Africa departs
The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain to Africa via the Black Sea departed from the port of Pivdennyi early on Tuesday morning.
Russia and Ukraine are both major food exporters, and the war has helped keep already-elevated prices for food at unusually high levels. For months, it was not possible for Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea, given the presence of Russia's navy off its coastline.
Turkey and the UN were able to broker an agreement with Kyiv and Moscow on this issue last month and facilitate a restart of grain exports from Ukraine.
The joint coordination center set up by the four parties had earlier announced that the latest ship, called Brave Commander, had been approved to set sail.
The ship, carrying 23,000 metric tons of wheat, was bound for Djibouti, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry said, also saying: "The ministry and the United Nations are working on ways to increase food supplies for the socially vulnerable sections of the African population."
UK MoD: Russian Black Sea Fleet in 'defensive posture'
Meanwhile, the UK has said in its daily intelligence update that the surface vessels of Russia's Black Sea Fleet "continue to pursue an extremely defensive posture, with patrols generally limited to waters within sight of the Crimean coast."
It said this contrasted with "heightened Russian naval activity in other seas, as is typical for this time of year."
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) suggested three possible contributing factors explaining why Russia was "struggling to exercise effective sea control." These included the sinking of its "Moskva" flagship early in the conflict, the naval aviation combat jets Russia has lost, and no longer controlling Snake Island off the Ukrainian coast.
This "currently limited effectiveness" of the fleet "undermines Russia's overall invasion strategy, in part because the amphibious threat to Odesa has now been largely neutralized," the ministry wrote.
Russian army blames fire for explosion at Crime munitions depot
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a fire had set off explosions at a munitions depot in Crimea around dawn on Tuesday.
The ministry said that a fire erupted around 6:15 a.m. local time (0315 GMT/UTC) at the site in the village of Mayskoye, causing ammunition to detonate.
Images posted on social media showed large fireballs erupting at the site and clouds of black smoke rising.
Earlier this month, major damage at a Crimean military airfield drew international attention. Russia attributed that explosion to ammunition detonating. Some experts argued that an attack was more likely, judging by available satellite imagery of the damage. Ukraine did not claim responsibility but did seek to cast doubt on Russia's version of events.
Russia annexed Crimea early in 2014, soon after a pro-Russian government in Kyiv was toppled in a popular uprising.
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