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On Tuesday, experts from the UN’s nuclear energy agency were inspecting two sites where Russia made baseless claims that Ukraine was building a “dirty bomb.”
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement that inspections have begun at two locations in Ukraine and will be completed soon. Following the Russian charges, Kyiv demanded an inspection.
Senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have baselessly accused Ukraine of preparing to use a so-called dirty bomb, a type of explosive that contains radioactive material.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said in a letter to Security Council members last week that Ukrainian nuclear research facilities and mining companies “received direct orders from (President) Zelensky’s regime to develop the A dirty bomb.”
Western countries immediately rejected the unsubstantiated claim, saying it was “clearly false”. Ukrainian authorities see this as an attempt to divert attention from Moscow’s own plans to detonate a dirty bomb to justify escalating hostilities.
The IAEA said the two sites being investigated “are under IAEA safeguards and are regularly visited by IAEA inspectors” tasked with detecting undeclared nuclear activity, as well as those related to dirty bomb development. s material.
“The IAEA inspected one of these two sites a month ago and found no undeclared nuclear activity or material there,” the agency said in a statement on Monday.
In another development, four Russian missiles hit the southern city of Mykolaiv around midnight, killing one person and destroying several buildings, Mykolaiv Governor Vitali Kim said on Telegram.
Poltava Governor Dmytro Lunin said on Telegram that an explosion occurred in the city of Poltava in northeastern Ukraine early on Tuesday. Lunin said four Russian drones crashed into civilian buildings in the city, setting off a fire. Three other drones were shot down. No casualties were reported.
read more: Russia fines Wikipedia owner for Ukraine war entry
Dnipropetrovsk region Governor Valentin Reznichenko said overnight Russian shelling of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Nikopol and nearby Mahanets. About 40 shells hit Nikopol, on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, destroying 14 residential buildings, a kindergarten, a pharmacy, a bank and several shops, the official said.
In Marhanets, damaged power lines and power outages at pumping stations left about 40,000 households without running water and 10,000 without power, according to Reznichenko. Power and water were restored in the morning.
Ukraine on Tuesday was still grappling with the aftermath of Monday’s massive strikes in Russia that disrupted electricity and water supplies in several Ukrainian cities and villages.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said authorities had restored electricity and running water to residential buildings in Kyiv, but the Ukrainian capital would remain without power due to severe power shortages.
In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, subway service was suspended again on Tuesday, according to the Metro Telegram page. No reason for the suspension was given.
In the occupied Kherson region, Russian authorities attempted to evacuate as many as 70,000 people living within 15 kilometers (9 miles) of the Dnieper River in response to a Ukrainian counteroffensive penetrating the region. The work began on Tuesday morning, according to the Kremlin-appointed governor of the region, Vladimir Saldo.
In Russia, the regular fall draft begins on Tuesday, with 120,000 men expected to be drafted over the next two months. Russian military officials have assured that conscripts will not be sent to fight in Ukraine, including in annexed areas.
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