Latest news from Russia and the war in Ukraine

Ukraine’s state nuclear power company Energoatom said Thursday morning that the fifth reactor has been shut down at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant because of nearby shelling this morning.

Attacks have been reported in the Energodar area where the plant is located, with both Ukraine and Russia accusing each other of violence on the day a team of UN experts is set to carry out a safety inspection.

There are widespread concerns over the stability of the complex amid the ongoing war.

Energoatom said on Telegram this morning that “as a result of another mortar shelling by the Russian occupying forces at the site of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, the emergency protection was activated and the operating 5th power unit was shut down.” It said a reserve power supply line was also damaged.

“This is the second time in the last 10 days that the criminal actions of the rioters have led to the shutdown of the unit and power outage of the station,” Energoatom noted.

It said power unit No. 6 continues to work in the energy system of Ukraine and at the same time feeds the ZNPP’s own needs, adding that the Ukrainian personnel at the plant were “doing everything possible to eliminate damage to its infrastructure.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The United States has obtained a warrant to seize a $45 million Boeing 737 aircraft owned by Russian energy firm PJSC Lukoil, the U.S. Justice Department said.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas authorized the seizure after finding “probable cause that the Boeing aircraft was subject to seizure based on violations of federal law,” the department said in a statement.

Court documents revealed that the aircraft did not comply with sanctions that the Department of Commerce had enacted against Russia as it “flew in and out” of the country. The plane last entered the United States in March 2019 and it had Lukoil officials on board, according to the department.

The department has stated that it believes the jet is situated in Russia at present.

— Natalie Tham

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s mission to inspect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has set off, but there are reports this morning of shelling around Energodar, where the plant is located.

The IAEA team is due to begin an inspection of the plant this morning following rising concerns over the safety and stability of the facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly blamed each other for shelling in the area and on Thursday there were more reports of shelling in the region.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the mission was aware of “increased military activity in the area” but was pressing ahead with its plan to visit the facility and meet personnel there, Reuters reported.

Russian news agency Interfax reported that its forces had fired on a group of Ukrainian troops which had landed in the Energodar region on Thursday morning.

Alexander Volga, head of the provisional administration of the city (a Russian-installed official), told Interfax that, “there was a landing of Ukrainian troops, they are currently immobilized, lying in a summer cottage. Our aviation is working on them. Scouts have figured out their location, at the moment they are being hit by fire. I think that everything will be finished in the near future, and we will win.”

Interfax repeated Russian claims that Energodar was “subjected to a massive artillery strike from the Armed Forces of Ukraine” this morning in which it said apartment buildings and a kindergarten were hit.

Ukraine has not responded to those claims, but Oleksandr Starukh, the Ukrainian head of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Telegram Thursday that Russian forces were shelling the pre-agreed route the IAEA team are due to take to the nuclear power plant.

“The UN advance team cannot continue the movement due to security reasons. Ukraine continues to make efforts to organize safe access of the international IAEA mission to the ZNPP. We demand that the Russian Federation stop the provocations and grant the IAEA unhindered access to the Ukrainian nuclear facility,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russian forces are concentrating their efforts on restoring supply lines and keeping a hold on captured territories in Ukraine, the country’s armed forces said in an operational update Thursday morning.

“The opponent is focusing efforts on establishing full control over the territory of the Donetsk region, as well as keeping the captured areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Nikolaiv regions,” the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in a post on Facebook.

The comments come amid a renewed push by Kyiv to reclaim Russian-occupied land, particularly in the south of the country around the city Kherson, which was one of the first cities to fall into Russian hands after the invasion.

Ukraine’s forces have attacked supply routes into the city, including key bridges across the Dnipro river, in a bid to prevent Russia being able to re-supply its troops.

In the south, Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia was focusing on maintaining occupied positions and “taking measures to recover losses” and “trying to restore the logistics supply” to its troops there.

Regional officials have reported Ukrainian advances, and Russian retreats in some areas, since the start of the counteroffensive that began earlier this week, but Ukraine is tight-lipped about the operation, not wanting to reveal its strategy or raise expectations of any imminent breakthrough in the conflict.

— Holly Ellyatt

Sweden’s foreign minister thanked the 24 NATO countries, or 80% of members, that have cleared Sweden and Finland to join the world’s most powerful military alliance.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed ratification documents following a 95-1 Senate vote to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO.

In May, both nations began the formal process of applying to NATO as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify Sweden and Finland into the group.

— Amanda Macias

The G-7 finance ministers will unveil new details later this week about a U.S.-led plan to cap the price of Russian oil, a White House spokeswoman said.

The representatives of the G-7 economic powers will meet Friday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Their agenda will include the plan to effectively bar the shipping of Russian oil that was purchased for more than a maximum price agreed upon by the G-7 group.

The plan is currently the leading proposal to cut into Russia’s oil revenues, which have soared since the invasion of Ukraine drove up global energy prices. Jean-Pierre deflected a question about why President Joe Biden has not authorized more domestic energy production amid record high gas prices.

“We think that working with our allies and making this announcement on this price cap on Russian oil is going to be very effective,” she said.

So far, U.S. and European efforts to deprive Russia of the oil revenue critical to funding its government and its military have fallen flat, largely due to massive increases in Russian oil imports by India and China.

— Christina Wilkie

The Biden administration will announce a new security assistance package for Ukraine “in the coming days,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

“We have committed more than $13 billion in security assistance to the Ukrainian armed forces, and we will continue to do that,” Kirby said on a conference call with reporters.

“There will be announcements of future security assistance in coming days,” he added.

Last week, to mark Ukraine’s 31 years of independence from the Soviet Union, Biden announced a U.S. military aid package worth approximately $3 billion.

The latest arms package, the 19th such installment, is Washington’s largest since Russia’s full-scale invasion began six months ago.

— Amanda Macias

The monitoring team from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a U.N. watchdog, has arrived in Zaporizhzhia with the head of the delegation telling NBC News that the agency would like to establish a permanent presence at the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant.

A team from IAEA arrived in the south of Ukraine around midday local time and are due to travel directly to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. They will inspect the facility over several days to assess the security and safety of the plant, which both Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told NBC’s Joshua Lederman that the mission will take a few days and that, in the longer term, the IAEA is also hoping to establish a “permanent presence” at the plant.

When asked whether he’s confident the mission can be carried out safely, Grossi said “of course,” despite fears that Russia could carry out what Ukraine has said could be a “provocation” during the visit. Russia has denied this and in turn, accused Ukraine of planning an attack during the visit.

Asked whether he believes Russia will allow the IAEA inspectors to see what’s really going on at the plant, Grossi said that the team was very experienced and made up of “the best and the brightest” in nuclear safety and security. “We will have a pretty good idea of what’s going on,” he says.

— Holly Ellyatt