Europe 1 with AFP 5:58 p.m., August 20, 2022

12 people were injured on Saturday in a Russian bombardment in Voznesensk in southern Ukraine, near a nuclear power plant.

Two children are said to be in serious condition.

Earlier today, the Russian Fleet Headquarters in Crimea was attacked by a drone. 

THE ESSENTIAL

On the 178th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 12 people were injured in a Russian bombardment in Voznesensk in southern Ukraine.

At the same time or almost, a drone targeted the staff of the Russian Fleet in Sevastopol in Crimea.

For his part, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN called not to hinder the export of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products in order to alleviate a possible food crisis.

Europe 1 takes stock of the situation.

Information to remember

: 

  • 12 Ukrainians injured by Russian shelling near nuclear power plant

  • The General Staff of the Russian Fleet was targeted by a drone in Crimea

  • Antonio Guterres calls for not hindering the export of Russian agricultural products

12 injured in Russian bombardment near nuclear power plant

12 Ukrainians were injured on Saturday in a Russian bombardment in Voznesensk, a town not far from a nuclear power plant in the south of the country, said the Ukrainian authorities, who accuse Moscow of "nuclear terrorism".

"According to preliminary information, 12 people including three children were injured. Two children are in serious condition" after this attack in the Mykolaiv region, the prosecution said on Telegram messaging.

Earlier in the day, regional governor Vitaly Kim reported, on the same network, nine injuries, including four children aged three to 17 and who, according to him, were "all in serious condition".

Voznesensk is about twenty kilometers as the crow flies from the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Privdennoukrainsk, the second most powerful in Ukraine, which has a total of four nuclear power plants.

A Russian strike in the 30-kilometer zone around the plant "is another cynical act of nuclear terrorism by Russia", accused Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom on Telegram.

"It cannot be ruled out that this missile was fired in the direction of the Pivdennooukrainsk power plant, which the Russian military already tried to seize in early March," Energoatom accused.

The strike hit a residential building and several houses in Voznesensk, where around 30,000 people live, the state emergency service said on Facebook, posting images of a gutted building.

The Mykolaiv region, which regularly suffers heavy Russian bombardments, is close to that of Kherson, almost entirely occupied by Russian troops since Moscow launched an attack on Ukraine at the end of February.

The staff of the Russian Fleet targeted by a drone in Crimea 

A drone attack on Saturday targeted the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, without causing injuries, said the governor of this city of the annexed peninsula of Crimea, Mikhail Razvojayev.

“The drone was shot down just above the Fleet HQ, it fell on the roof and caught fire,” he wrote on Telegram.

The incident "did not cause serious damage" or injuries, he said, blaming the attack on the Ukrainian forces.

This is the second drone attack against the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in less than a month.

On July 31, a drone landed in the courtyard of the Fleet Headquarters, injuring five of its employees and causing the cancellation of all planned Russian Fleet Day festivities. celebrated that day

Antonio Guterres calls for lifting "barriers" to the export of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products

Russian fertilizers and agricultural products must be able to access world markets "unhindered", at the risk of a world food crisis as early as next year, said Saturday in Istanbul the Secretary General of the UN Antonio Guterres.

“It is important that governments and the private sector cooperate to get them to market,” he said from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), which oversees the application of the export agreement. of Ukrainian cereals signed in July by kyiv and Moscow under the aegis of the UN and Turkey.

This agreement also guarantees that Russia can export its agricultural products and fertilizers despite Western sanctions.

"What we see here in Istanbul and Odessa (the transport of Ukrainian grain, editor's note) is only the most visible part of the solution. The other part of this comprehensive agreement is unhindered access to world markets. Russian food products and fertilizers, which are not subject to sanctions," Guterres said, stressing that despite this, exports of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products still faced "obstacles".

Vladimir Putin accepts an IAEA mission to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant 

Vladimir Putin on Friday accepted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) send a mission to Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, saying he fears that the bombings could end up causing a "catastrophe of great wingspan".

At the same time, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, on a visit to Ukraine, asked Russia not to cut off from the Ukrainian network this power station that its army has occupied since the beginning of March, and which has become the target in recent weeks of strikes of which Moscow and kyiv accuse each other.