Drone attack hits Kiev, no injuries
A new Russian drone strike was foiled in Kiev overnight from Monday to Tuesday, according to Ukrainian military authorities, who reported no casualties.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, for its part, has seen anti-personnel mines in a buffer zone at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. Follow hour by hour the latest developments in Ukraine.
“Tonight (Monday to Tuesday) the enemy attacked Kiev” using drones, Serguii Popko, head of the local military administration, said on Telegram. “All aerial targets were detected and destroyed” during their approach to the Ukrainian capital. “According to current information, there were no injuries or damage in the capital.”
Earlier in the night, an air raid alert had been sounded in the Kyiv region, and military authorities had urged residents to stay under cover.
According to the official, this is “already the sixth drone attack on the capital this month”. Authorities reported on July 13 that overnight drone strikes against Kiev left at least one dead and four wounded.
03:36: Mines were seen at the site of the Zaporizhia power plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has spotted “a few anti-personnel mines” in a buffer zone at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia (east), occupied by Russian forces. These explosive charges are in a restricted area that is prohibited to the personnel in charge of the operation of the facility, she added, without giving the exact number of mines that the members of the agency have seen. No one was seen inside the inner perimeter, the organization added.
“The IAEA is aware of the past laying of mines outside the perimeter of the area and also at certain locations inside (it),” the organization’s director general Rafael Grossi said in the statement. “The presence of such explosives at the site does not comply with IAEA safety standards and nuclear safety guidance.”
According to an assessment by the IAEA, “a detonation of these mines should not affect the safety and security systems on site”, the Director General noted.
The IAEA is calling for better access to “verify the facts on the ground” in an “independent and objective” manner.
July 24 Essentials
Russia said it “neutralized” two Ukrainian drones in Moscow overnight from Sunday to Monday, claiming to have foiled a “terrorist act” by the Ukrainians. A source in the Ukrainian defense confirmed during the day that Kiev was at the initiative of this “special operation” on the Russian capital.
For his part, President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday considered “unacceptable” the possibility of an extension of restrictions on the export of Ukrainian grain within the EU, as demanded by five countries neighboring Ukraine to protect their farmers.
Reuters
