War in Ukraine: what to remember on the 176th day of the Russian invasion

Europe 1 with AFP 5:54 p.m., August 18, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL

On the 176th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will meet in Lviv, in western Ukraine.

The three men must notably discuss the recent agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals, the "need for a political solution" to the conflict and the security of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, said United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric. .

Information to remember:

- Guterres, Zelensky and Erdogan meet in Lviv, in the west

- Six dead in new Russian shelling in Kharkiv

- A 25th ship loaded with grain left Ukraine

Russia defends itself against Zelensky's accusations

In the morning, the Russian army assured that it had not deployed "heavy weapons" in and around this power plant in southern Ukraine, the largest in Europe, whose fate worries.

Occupied since the beginning of March, it has been the prey since the end of July of bombardments of which Moscow and kyiv accuse each other.

The UN must "ensure the security of this strategic site, its demilitarization and its complete liberation from Russian troops", for his part estimated in the afternoon Volodymyr Zelensky, denouncing the "deliberate terror" provoked by Russia, which "may have major catastrophic consequences for the whole world".

Six dead Thursday in Russian bombings in Kharkiv

Fighting continues meanwhile in the Kharkiv region (north-east), where the Ukrainians have accused the Russians of having shelled residential areas, killing six there on Thursday, after 13 the previous evening, and dozens injured in total.

"Last night and this morning were the most tragic times in Kharkiv since the beginning of the war," said its mayor Igor Terekhov, signaling that Friday would be a day of mourning for the victims.

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Located about forty kilometers from the Russian border, this city, the second largest in Ukraine, is regularly pounded by Russian soldiers, who have never managed to seize it.

Hundreds of civilians were killed in this region, according to the authorities.

In the south, one person died and two others were injured and hospitalized after a strike in Mykolaiv, announced its mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych.

Grain exports continue

On the diplomatic front, Antonio Guterres arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky said in the evening.

"We will work together to achieve the necessary results for Ukraine," added the Ukrainian president, who is calling for more financial and material aid for his country and tougher sanctions against Moscow.

The Zelensky-Erdogan-Guterres meeting comes against a background of increasing negotiations to allow the resumption of cereal exports from Ukraine, one of their main producers and exporters in the world.

They were totally blocked for several months following the Russian invasion, raising the specter of a global food crisis.

In July, an agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine and validated by the United Nations and Turkey, made it possible to resume these exports.

Erdogan, who is mediating on this subject, went to Russia in early August to talk about it with President Vladimir Putin.

A first humanitarian ship chartered by the UN, loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat, in this regard left Ukraine on Tuesday - heading for Ethiopia -.

On Thursday, a vessel loaded with cereals sailed from this country, the 25th since the signing of the agreement, announced the Ukrainian port authorities.

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In total, "more than 600,000 tons of Ukrainian agricultural products" have since passed through the "grain corridor" from the ports of Odessa, Pivdenny and Chornomorsk, they added.

On Friday, Antonio Guterres plans to go to Odessa, then to Turkey to visit the Joint Coordination Center (CCC) which oversees the application of the agreement.

Situation still tense around Zaporizhia

In the south, the situation remained tense around the Zaporijjia power plant.

Thursday, the Russian army hammered that "only units providing security" were there.

Ukraine, which for its part evokes the presence of Russian "heavy weapons", also accuses Russia of using the plant as a firing base on Ukrainian positions, which Moscow denies.

Conversely, Russia says that the Ukrainian soldiers want to fire their artillery at the power plant and then accuse it of having caused a nuclear accident, while "the Russian armed forces are taking all necessary measures" to ensure the security.

A week ago, Antonio Guterres and the United States called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the site to guarantee its security.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg himself deemed it "urgent" on Wednesday that "all Russian forces" withdraw and that an "inspection" by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) there takes place.

Russia also announced that it had deployed planes equipped with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles on Thursday in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave surrounded by NATO countries where the conflict in Ukraine has exacerbated tensions.