Macron vows ‘long term’ EU support for Ukraine on eve of Independence Day

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11:46pm: UN Security Council holds emergency meeting on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The UN nuclear agency renewed its request Tuesday to assess the safety and security at Europe’s largest nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine which Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling, sparking warnings of a possible nuclear catastrophe.

At the start of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo announced that Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, requested to send an IAEA mission “to carry out essential safety, security and safeguard activities at the site.”

DiCarlo said the UN has the logistics and security capacity in Ukraine “to support any IAEA mission to the plant from Kyiv, provided Ukraine and Russia agree.”

The Zaporizhzhia plant has been under the control of Russian forces since early March, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. Technical experts from Ukraine continue to operate the nuclear equipment.

10:30pm: Ukraine grain exports nearing pre-war levels, US says

Ukraine is on course to ship nearly as much grain this month as it did before the Russian invasion following international efforts to ease food shortages, a US official said Tuesday.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil, shipping around 5 million metric tonnes of grain each month before the war.

Its exports ground to a trickle after the February 24 invasion, contributing to a spike in global food prices that has hit poor nations especially hard.

"Thanks to intensive international cooperation, Ukraine is on track to export as much as 4 million metric tonnes of agricultural products in August," a senior US State Department official told AFP.

Ukraine and Russia in July reached a grain exports agreement through the mediation of Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with guarantees for ships to sail out of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

9:47pm: Russian official blames high temperatures for border fire

Ammunition being stored in southern Russia near the border with Ukraine caught fire on Tuesday, the second such incident in a week, and a local official said high temperatures were to blame.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod region, said people near the village of Timonovo were evacuated after the ammunition started to spontaneously combust. No one was injured, he said in a statement.

Last week inhabitants of Timonovo and Soloti, 15 kilometres (9 miles) from Ukraine, were evacuated after a nearby ammunition storage depot caught fire. It was not clear from Gladkov's comments whether Tuesday's blaze had taken place in the same depot or among ammunition that had been moved.

6:45pm: US plans to send $3 billion in military aid to Ukraine

As Russia's war on Ukraine continues, US security assistance is shifting to a longer-term campaign that will likely keep more American  troops in Europe into the future, and include an additional roughly $3 billion in aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come, US officials said. 

US officials told The Associated Press that the assistance package is expected to be announced Wednesday, the day the war hits the six-month mark and Ukraine celebrates its independence day. The money will fund contracts for drones, weapons and other equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, they said.

The total of the aid package – which is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative – could change overnight, but not likely by much. Several officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the aid before its public release.

Unlike most previous packages, the new funding is largely aimed at helping Ukraine secure its medium- to long-term defence posture, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Earlier shipments, most of them under Presidential Drawdown Authority, have focused on Ukraine’s more immediate needs for weapons and ammunition and involved materiel that the Pentagon already has in stock that can be shipped in short order.

5:39pm: Russian foreign minister discusses Ukraine nuclear inspection with French counterpart

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday spoke with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on the expected visit of independent inspectors to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

They "discussed in detail the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the opportunities available for organising a visit to the station by an IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) mission", Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement following their phone call.

Lavrov said that Ukraine "continues to shell the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the territory adjacent to it, [and] exposes the entire European population to the danger of a nuclear catastrophe", it added. 

Recent fighting around the plant has raised concerns of a nuclear incident comparable to the Chernobyl disaster, with Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of targeting the site in strikes.

4:48pm: Germany plans to send over €500 million of weapons to Ukraine

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that Germany planned to deliver further arms to Ukraine, worth more than €500 million, a source told Reuters.

A participant at an online conference on Ukraine, which took place in Toronto, Canada, said that Germany planned to supply three additional Iris-T air defence systems, a dozen armoured recovery vehicles, 20 rocket launchers, precision ammunition and anti-drone systems.

The arms would be delivered in 2023, some possibly sooner, said the source, adding that Germany's parliamentary budget committee must still approve the supplies that Scholz described as a contribution to the modernisation of Ukraine's armed forces.

2:56pm: UN fears possible unlawful trials of Ukrainian PoWs

The United Nations voiced alarm Tuesday at reports that Russia is preparing to try Ukrainian prisoners of war under conditions that could amount to war crimes.

The UN human rights office said it was concerned by images and footage appearing to show metal cages being built in the philharmonic hall in the shattered Ukrainian city of Mariupol, apparently to hold PoWs during proceedings.

"If prisoners of war are charged with crimes, they are entitled to due process and fair trial guarantees," spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. 

"No sentence or punishment may be passed on them unless it is delivered by an impartial and regularly constituted court." 

1:58pm: EU ready to support Ukraine 'for the long term', Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Tuesday that the EU's support for Ukraine as it struggles against Russia's invasion would continue "for the long term."

Six months after the conflict erupted, "Our determination has not changed and we are ready to maintain this effort for the long term," Macron said in a video address to participants in the Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv.

1:27pm: Zelensky vows to restore Ukrainian sovereignty in Crimea

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky opened an international conference on Crimea on Tuesday by saying Kyiv would restore Ukrainian rule over the Russia-annexed region.

"To overcome terror, it is necessary to gain victory in the fight against Russian aggression. It is necessary to liberate Crimea. This will be the resuscitation of world law and order," he told the Crimea Platform summit.

1:28pm: Germany registers almost a million Ukrainian refugees

Germany has registered almost a million refugees from Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbour in February, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

A total of 967,546 people fleeing the war have entered Germany at least temporarily, 36 percent of them children, the ministry said in a statement. Around 97 percent are Ukrainian nationals. Among the adults, three in four are women and around eight percent are over the age of 64.

"Many in our society have gone above and beyond to help refugees," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, calling the influx "the largest movement of refugees [in Europe] since World War II".

1:14pm: Zelensky warns of powerful Ukrainian response to Russian attacks

Asked at a news conference with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda about the possibility of a Russian missile strike on Kyiv, Zelensky said there was a daily threat of attacks and Ukrainian intelligence was working with foreign intelligence.

"Russia does this all the time. Can they increase the number of these strikes? Yes, they can do it on (August) 23rd-24th," Zelensky said.

"What will Ukraine do if they hit Kyiv? The same as now. Because for me as president, and for every Ukrainian, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Donbas, it is all the same. Ukrainians live there [and] Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia."

He said the response would be the same for any Ukrainian city that comes under attack from Russia.

"If they hit us, they will receive a response, a powerful response," Zelensky said. "I want to say that each day ... this response will grow, it will get stronger and stronger."

11:28am: US urges citizens to leave Ukraine as fears grow of Russian attacks on Kyiv

The US on Tuesday urged its citizens to leave Ukraine, saying it believed Russia was preparing to target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days as the war reaches the six-month mark.

The warning followed a ban by the Ukrainian government on celebrations in the capital Kyiv on Wednesday's anniversary of independence from Soviet rule due to fears of attack.

On the battlefield, Russian forces carried out artillery and air strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine, where fighting has taken place near Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the Ukrainian military said.

But six months on from Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, and with thousands of deaths and widespread destruction of cities, the conflict is locked in a stalemate.

11:07am: Polish president visits Kyiv to discuss support for Ukraine

Polish President Andrzej Duda arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday for a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to reaffirm Poland's support in the war against Russia and urge fresh sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine's border guard agency shared footage of Duda arriving by train in Kyiv on Tuesday morning with the caption: "We welcome our friend to the capital".

After meeting with Zelensky, Duda is scheduled to attend the Crimean Platform, a forum for nations backing Ukraine, which existed before Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

"The presidents will discuss what other assistance Poland can provide, but also how Poland can politically help to persuade other countries to help," the head of the Polish president's office Pawel Szrot said at a press conference in Warsaw on Tuesday.

10:23am: Hundreds mourn Russian nationalist's daughter killed in car bomb

Hundreds gathered Tuesday for the Moscow funeral of Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ultranationalist intellectual who was killed in a car bombing that Russia blames on Ukraine.

Alexander Dugin – a vocal supporter of the Kremlin's military campaign who has claimed to be close to President Vladimir Putin – may have been the intended target of the attack that killed his 29-year-old daughter. Ukraine denies any involvement.

Mourners – many carrying flowers – paid their respects to Dugina at a hall in Moscow's Ostankino TV centre where her black-and-white portrait was displayed over an open casket.

9:20am: Russia tightens grip on media landscape as Yandex sells homepage, news to rival VK

Russia's leading internet firm Yandex on Tuesday said it had agreed to sell its news aggregator and yandex.ru homepage to state-controlled rival VK, a dramatic move that will likely further limit Russians' access to independent media.

The all-share deal, in which Yandex will acquire 100% of food delivery service Delivery Club, marks a significant shift in Russia's internet landscape, with Yandex effectively passing the reins that steer the distribution of online content to a Kremlin-friendly actor.

Moscow's years-long suppression of independent media sharply intensified after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, passing a law banning what it calls "false information" about Russia's armed forces and quashing many organisations' ability to broadcast freely.

8:12am: Ukraine's key food exports fall by almost half since start of war

Exports of key Ukrainian agricultural commodities have fallen by almost half since the start of the Russian invasion earlier this year compared to the same period in 2021, data from the agriculture ministry showed late on Monday.

Russia began its attack on Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation", and as a result of the fighting, Ukrainian seaports were blocked, leaving a vast amount of crops either unharvested or destroyed.

Agricultural exports between February 24 and August 15 this year fell to 10 million tonnes from around 19.5 million in the same period last year, the ministry data showed.

The 2022 grain harvest in Ukraine is forecast to fall to around 50 million tonnes from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021.

7:21am: Ukraine says 9,000 of its troops killed since Russian invasion

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has already killed some 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers since it began nearly six months ago, a general said, and the fighting Monday showed no signs that the war is abating.

At a veteran's event, Ukraine’s military chief, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said many of Ukraine’s children need to be taken care of because “their father went to the front line and, perhaps, is one of those almost 9,000 heroes who died".

In Nikopol, across the river from Ukraine's main nuclear power plant, Russian shelling wounded four people Monday, an official said. The city on the Dnieper River has faced relentless pounding since July 12 that has damaged 850 buildings and sent about half its population of 100,000 fleeing.

7:04am: Russia targets Zaporizhzhia region as Kyiv bans Independence Day festivities

Russia carried out artillery and air strikes in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine's General Staff said on Tuesday, where fighting near Europe's largest nuclear power plant has raised fears of a catastrophic nuclear incident.

The attacks come ahead of Ukraine's Independence Day on Wednesday commemorating freedom from Soviet rule, with Kyiv banning public celebrations citing a threat of more attacks.

The US embassy in Kyiv also warned in a statement of Russian plans to strike civilian and government infrastructure in the coming days.

Near frontlines in the south of the country, Ukraine said Russia fired artillery and conducted air strikes in several towns in the Zaporizhzhia region, were Russian forces captured the nuclear power plant shortly after they invaded on February 24.

Artillery and rocket fire near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, on the south bank of the Dnipro River, has led to calls for the area to be demilitarised.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)