Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have arrived in Kyiv, and new attacks on Russian forces in the Kherson region are underway, according to Ukrainian officials.
- Kyiv said its forces broke through Russian positions in the Kherson region.
- There has been “an uptick” in fighting around Kherson “over the past few days, including artillery and rockets,” a senior U.S. military official, speaking anonymously under conditions set by the Pentagon, said Monday during a news briefing.
- Video circulating on social media Tuesday and verified by The Washington Post shows smoke and gunfire in the southern city of Kherson, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the war.
- More attacks were reported near the plant. Oleksandr Starukh, the regional governor of Zaporizhzhia, said Russian forces launched a missile strike on Zaporizhzhia overnight into Tuesday.
More live updates here.
- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have arrived in Kyiv, and new attacks on Russian forces in the Kherson region are underway, according to Ukrainian officials.
- Kyiv said its forces broke through Russian positions in the Kherson region.
- There has been “an uptick” in fighting around Kherson “over the past few days, including artillery and rockets,” a senior U.S. military official, speaking anonymously under conditions set by the Pentagon, said Monday during a news briefing.
- Video circulating on social media Tuesday and verified by The Washington Post shows smoke and gunfire in the southern city of Kherson, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the war.
- More attacks were reported near the plant. Oleksandr Starukh, the regional governor of Zaporizhzhia, said Russian forces launched a missile strike on Zaporizhzhia overnight into Tuesday.
More live updates here.
Ban Russian tourists? E.U. is divided on visa restrictions.
With fighting raging in eastern Ukraine and Europe bracing for a war-induced recession, should Russians be allowed to enjoy the end of summer in southern France? Shop for luxury goods in Italy? Visit family in Finland?
Those questions will be part of a debate among foreign ministers of the European Union’s member states gathered this week for an informal meeting in Prague. And while E.U. countries were united in banning Russian flights from their airspace and placing more than 1,200 individuals on their sanctions list, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, a blanket ban on Russian tourists is proving far more divisive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for one. “Let them live in their own world until they change their philosophy,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post this month. “This is the only way to influence Putin.”
Read the full story here.
With fighting raging in eastern Ukraine and Europe bracing for a war-induced recession, should Russians be allowed to enjoy the end of summer in southern France? Shop for luxury goods in Italy? Visit family in Finland?
Those questions will be part of a debate among foreign ministers of the European Union’s member states gathered this week for an informal meeting in Prague. And while E.U. countries were united in banning Russian flights from their airspace and placing more than 1,200 individuals on their sanctions list, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, a blanket ban on Russian tourists is proving far more divisive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for one. “Let them live in their own world until they change their philosophy,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post this month. “This is the only way to influence Putin.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The IAEA chief said the mission aims to establish permanent monitoring at Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
- Ukraine may have succeeded in pushing Russia’s “front line back some distance in places” in the south by “exploiting relatively thinly held Russian defences,” the British Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
- There has been “an uptick” in fighting around Kherson “over the past few days, including artillery and rockets,” a senior U.S. military official, speaking anonymously under conditions set by the Pentagon, said Monday during a news briefing.
- E.U. foreign ministers will debate whether to ban Russian tourists from the bloc during their second day of informal meetings in Prague. Countries are divided on the proposal, which has Zelensky’s backing and the support of the Baltic states, as well as Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic.
More live updates here.
- The IAEA chief said the mission aims to establish permanent monitoring at Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
- Ukraine may have succeeded in pushing Russia’s “front line back some distance in places” in the south by “exploiting relatively thinly held Russian defences,” the British Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
- There has been “an uptick” in fighting around Kherson “over the past few days, including artillery and rockets,” a senior U.S. military official, speaking anonymously under conditions set by the Pentagon, said Monday during a news briefing.
- E.U. foreign ministers will debate whether to ban Russian tourists from the bloc during their second day of informal meetings in Prague. Countries are divided on the proposal, which has Zelensky’s backing and the support of the Baltic states, as well as Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic.
More live updates here.
U.N. nuclear chief sets off for Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant
KYIV, Ukraine — A team of United Nations nuclear experts packed into a convoy of armored vehicles in Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday and drove off to the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the culmination of six months of painstaking international negotiations aimed at preventing a catastrophe at the facility.
“We are going to a war zone,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose team of more than a dozen experts will inspect a Russian-occupied plant that has experienced artillery shelling and power outages, among several other challenges, in recent months.
Grossi said the goal of his multiday inspection was to set up a permanent monitoring mission at the plant, “assess the real situation there” and to help “stabilize the situation as much as we can.”
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — A team of United Nations nuclear experts packed into a convoy of armored vehicles in Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday and drove off to the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the culmination of six months of painstaking international negotiations aimed at preventing a catastrophe at the facility.
“We are going to a war zone,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose team of more than a dozen experts will inspect a Russian-occupied plant that has experienced artillery shelling and power outages, among several other challenges, in recent months.
Grossi said the goal of his multiday inspection was to set up a permanent monitoring mission at the plant, “assess the real situation there” and to help “stabilize the situation as much as we can.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said the mission aims to establish a permanent monitoring presence at the plant.
- A senior Russian diplomat endorsed Grossi’s push for a permanent presence at the plant on Wednesday, though Kremlin-installed officials in the region downplayed the scale and scope of the mission.
- Zelensky and his advisers accused Russian forces Tuesday of striking targets on the IAEA’s path to Zaporizhzhia; the Kremlin did not respond to the allegation but said Wednesday it is doing what is necessary to ensure the safety of the mission.
More live updates here.
- IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said the mission aims to establish a permanent monitoring presence at the plant.
- A senior Russian diplomat endorsed Grossi’s push for a permanent presence at the plant on Wednesday, though Kremlin-installed officials in the region downplayed the scale and scope of the mission.
- Zelensky and his advisers accused Russian forces Tuesday of striking targets on the IAEA’s path to Zaporizhzhia; the Kremlin did not respond to the allegation but said Wednesday it is doing what is necessary to ensure the safety of the mission.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The IAEA team is aware of “increased military activity” in the area near the plant, Grossi said before departing Thursday, adding that his team would continue with their inspection nonetheless. “Having come so far, we are not stopping,” Grossi said.
- “The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission,” Ukrainian regional governor for Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, said on telegram Thursday. “We demand that the Russian Federation stop the provocations and grant the IAEA unhindered access to the Ukrainian nuclear facility.”
- Russia in turn accused Ukraine of attempting to disrupt the IAEA mission, according to Vladimir Rogov, an official installed by Moscow in the Zaporizhzhia region.
- “The Russian military is suffering from severe manning shortages in Ukraine,” a U.S. official told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity.
More live updates here.
- The IAEA team is aware of “increased military activity” in the area near the plant, Grossi said before departing Thursday, adding that his team would continue with their inspection nonetheless. “Having come so far, we are not stopping,” Grossi said.
- “The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission,” Ukrainian regional governor for Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, said on telegram Thursday. “We demand that the Russian Federation stop the provocations and grant the IAEA unhindered access to the Ukrainian nuclear facility.”
- Russia in turn accused Ukraine of attempting to disrupt the IAEA mission, according to Vladimir Rogov, an official installed by Moscow in the Zaporizhzhia region.
- “The Russian military is suffering from severe manning shortages in Ukraine,” a U.S. official told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity.
More live updates here.
New findings expose machinery of Russia's 'filtration' of Ukrainians
Moscow and its separatist allies in Ukraine have forcibly transferred hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia since the start of the war, according to U.S. officials and human rights investigators, sending many through a vast and punitive “filtration” system that includes detentions, interrogations and mass data collection.
The system operates in Russian-occupied areas and is overseen by the Kremlin, which is using “advanced technology” to gather data on Ukrainian citizens, a State Department official said in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
In recent days, two reports — from the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab — have shed new light on the scale of the filtration network and its impact on civilians. Both reports say there is evidence the system violates the laws of war.
Read the full story here.
Moscow and its separatist allies in Ukraine have forcibly transferred hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia since the start of the war, according to U.S. officials and human rights investigators, sending many through a vast and punitive “filtration” system that includes detentions, interrogations and mass data collection.
The system operates in Russian-occupied areas and is overseen by the Kremlin, which is using “advanced technology” to gather data on Ukrainian citizens, a State Department official said in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
In recent days, two reports — from the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab — have shed new light on the scale of the filtration network and its impact on civilians. Both reports say there is evidence the system violates the laws of war.
Read the full story here.
Analysis: With NAFO, Ukraine turns the trolls on Russia
More than six months in, the war in Ukraine has become a little surreal. This past weekend, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry shared a doctored photograph of a Shiba Inu dog wearing a military uniform, apparently gushing over the site of a missile launch.
“Today we want to give a shout-out to a unique entity,” the tweet read, before pointing to an unusually named group — the North Atlantic Fellas Organization.
If you are the sort of person who gets your news from, say, a newspaper website, you may have little idea what NAFO is. But if you’re the sort of person who has spent the last six months scouring Twitter for news about the war in Ukraine, signing up for obscure Telegram accounts and reading accounts of the latest Ukrainian strikes on Russia on blogs devoted to open-source intelligence (OSINT) … well, it’s quite likely you’re already a fella yourself.
Read the full analysis here.
More than six months in, the war in Ukraine has become a little surreal. This past weekend, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry shared a doctored photograph of a Shiba Inu dog wearing a military uniform, apparently gushing over the site of a missile launch.
“Today we want to give a shout-out to a unique entity,” the tweet read, before pointing to an unusually named group — the North Atlantic Fellas Organization.
If you are the sort of person who gets your news from, say, a newspaper website, you may have little idea what NAFO is. But if you’re the sort of person who has spent the last six months scouring Twitter for news about the war in Ukraine, signing up for obscure Telegram accounts and reading accounts of the latest Ukrainian strikes on Russia on blogs devoted to open-source intelligence (OSINT) … well, it’s quite likely you’re already a fella yourself.
Read the full analysis here.
In Ukraine, first day of school is 190th day of Russian invasion
NOVE ZALISSYA, Ukraine — As Russian forces swept into town and artillery shells exploded outside last winter, residents of this village about 30 miles northwest of Kyiv cowered in fear in the basement of the local school. On Thursday, the Russian invaders who failed to seize the Ukrainian capital were a memory, and the school was the scene of a much more tranquil and joyous occasion: the official opening of the academic year, which takes place annually on Sept. 1.
With traditional pageantry, 15 first-graders were escorted into the school’s auditorium by the oldest students. They sang the Ukrainian national anthem and recited prepared phrases about the day’s importance, while a gaggle of proud parents looked on. At the end, the first-graders took turns ringing a bell to mark the start of their academic life.
Read the full story here.
NOVE ZALISSYA, Ukraine — As Russian forces swept into town and artillery shells exploded outside last winter, residents of this village about 30 miles northwest of Kyiv cowered in fear in the basement of the local school. On Thursday, the Russian invaders who failed to seize the Ukrainian capital were a memory, and the school was the scene of a much more tranquil and joyous occasion: the official opening of the academic year, which takes place annually on Sept. 1.
With traditional pageantry, 15 first-graders were escorted into the school’s auditorium by the oldest students. They sang the Ukrainian national anthem and recited prepared phrases about the day’s importance, while a gaggle of proud parents looked on. At the end, the first-graders took turns ringing a bell to mark the start of their academic life.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- The IAEA team was aware of “increased military activity” near the plant, Grossi said Thursday before heading to the site.
- “The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission,” Ukraine’s regional governor for Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, said earlier Thursday on Telegram.
- The mission “seeks to prevent a nuclear accident” and will assess the safety and security of the plant, as well as speak to staff, said Grossi.
- Ukraine began its academic school year Thursday, welcoming students back in ceremonies that showed both resilience and the war’s heavy toll.
More live updates here.
- The IAEA team was aware of “increased military activity” near the plant, Grossi said Thursday before heading to the site.
- “The Russians are shelling the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission,” Ukraine’s regional governor for Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, said earlier Thursday on Telegram.
- The mission “seeks to prevent a nuclear accident” and will assess the safety and security of the plant, as well as speak to staff, said Grossi.
- Ukraine began its academic school year Thursday, welcoming students back in ceremonies that showed both resilience and the war’s heavy toll.
More live updates here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Five inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will remain at the Zaporizhzhia plant through Saturday, after agency chief Rafael Grossi led a tour to evaluate the safety of the facility in Russian hands. “We are not going anywhere. The IAEA is now there, it is at the plant and it is not moving,” he told reporters Thursday after returning to territory under Ukrainian control.
- Grossi said the “physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times” and that he worried about the risks “until we have a situation which is more stable.” The atomic energy agency and Kyiv have urged a military withdrawal from the site, which is controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian engineers.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of preventing journalists from accompanying the mission, while praising the IAEA visit in his nightly address.
More live updates here.
- Five inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will remain at the Zaporizhzhia plant through Saturday, after agency chief Rafael Grossi led a tour to evaluate the safety of the facility in Russian hands. “We are not going anywhere. The IAEA is now there, it is at the plant and it is not moving,” he told reporters Thursday after returning to territory under Ukrainian control.
- Grossi said the “physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times” and that he worried about the risks “until we have a situation which is more stable.” The atomic energy agency and Kyiv have urged a military withdrawal from the site, which is controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian engineers.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of preventing journalists from accompanying the mission, while praising the IAEA visit in his nightly address.
More live updates here.
Bombs fall as U.N. inspectors reach embattled Ukrainian nuclear plant
KYIV, Ukraine — A team of U.N. nuclear experts made an initial inspection at the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Thursday after traversing a contested stretch of southeastern Ukraine besieged by mortar shelling and small weapons fire.
“I have just completed a first tour of the key areas that we wanted to see,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a video message from the plant. “Of course there is a lot more to do. My team is staying on.”
Grossi said the goal of his multiday inspection was to set up a permanent monitoring mission at the plant and assess the safety situation there. It is unclear how extensive his team’s access will be after his departure.
Read the full story here.
KYIV, Ukraine — A team of U.N. nuclear experts made an initial inspection at the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Thursday after traversing a contested stretch of southeastern Ukraine besieged by mortar shelling and small weapons fire.
“I have just completed a first tour of the key areas that we wanted to see,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a video message from the plant. “Of course there is a lot more to do. My team is staying on.”
Grossi said the goal of his multiday inspection was to set up a permanent monitoring mission at the plant and assess the safety situation there. It is unclear how extensive his team’s access will be after his departure.
Read the full story here.
Lukoil chairman dies in mysterious fall from Moscow hospital window
The chairman of Russia’s second-largest oil company, Lukoil, died Thursday after reportedly falling from the window of a Moscow hospital where he was being treated after suffering a heart attack.
Ravil Maganov, 67, fell from a sixth-floor window at the Central Clinical Hospital around 7 a.m. local time, the state-run Tass news agency reported.
It was not clear whether Maganov’s death was an accident, a suicide or something more sinister.
Read the full story here.
The chairman of Russia’s second-largest oil company, Lukoil, died Thursday after reportedly falling from the window of a Moscow hospital where he was being treated after suffering a heart attack.
Ravil Maganov, 67, fell from a sixth-floor window at the Central Clinical Hospital around 7 a.m. local time, the state-run Tass news agency reported.
It was not clear whether Maganov’s death was an accident, a suicide or something more sinister.
Read the full story here.
G-7 nations say they will set a price cap on Russian oil
The leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations announced on Friday that they will implement a new price cap on Russian oil, aiming to undercut the Kremlin’s finances while keeping energy flowing to the West.
Western allies led by Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen have for months been trying to rally the world behind a plan to purchase Russian oil at a set lower price to stop the huge energy profits Russia is using to finance its war in Ukraine. They have settled on a price cap that is intended to undercut those profits while also ensuring Russia continues to provide oil to world markets, trying to prevent price shocks that could cripple the global economy.
The G-7 governments said in a statement that they plan to enact the price cap by cutting off insurance for all shipments of Russian oil that are sold above a certain price — which would effectively make it impossible to ship.
Read the full story here.
The leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations announced on Friday that they will implement a new price cap on Russian oil, aiming to undercut the Kremlin’s finances while keeping energy flowing to the West.
Western allies led by Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen have for months been trying to rally the world behind a plan to purchase Russian oil at a set lower price to stop the huge energy profits Russia is using to finance its war in Ukraine. They have settled on a price cap that is intended to undercut those profits while also ensuring Russia continues to provide oil to world markets, trying to prevent price shocks that could cripple the global economy.
The G-7 governments said in a statement that they plan to enact the price cap by cutting off insurance for all shipments of Russian oil that are sold above a certain price — which would effectively make it impossible to ship.
Read the full story here.
In fiercely contested Kherson, Ukraine pushes to retake occupied lands
Ukraine’s military has kept Ukrainians and the world guessing about the counteroffensive it claims to have launched in this Russian-occupied territory, but Oleksander Skovorodka already feels a shift.
The 32-year-old resident of Kamyane, a village surrounded by Russian forces, said the pitch of artillery volleys from both directions has ramped up. He and his neighbors have watched Ukrainian attack helicopters buzz the treetops on their way south. On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian military vehicles plied the dirt lane in the oblast’s northwest corner where he and his wife, Taisia, were driving on their way to buy food.
“We can hear more fighting, more shelling,” he said. “The Russians are just over there.”
Read the full story here.
Ukraine’s military has kept Ukrainians and the world guessing about the counteroffensive it claims to have launched in this Russian-occupied territory, but Oleksander Skovorodka already feels a shift.
The 32-year-old resident of Kamyane, a village surrounded by Russian forces, said the pitch of artillery volleys from both directions has ramped up. He and his neighbors have watched Ukrainian attack helicopters buzz the treetops on their way south. On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian military vehicles plied the dirt lane in the oblast’s northwest corner where he and his wife, Taisia, were driving on their way to buy food.
“We can hear more fighting, more shelling,” he said. “The Russians are just over there.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- Two IAEA inspectors will remain at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant “on a permanent basis,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to the agency, told The Washington Post on Friday.
- Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Friday that it won’t reopen the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline tomorrow as expected, potentially worsening Europe’s energy crunch.
- Grossi told reporters the IAEA plans to establish a “resident” presence to monitor the plant and that a core team will stay there over the coming days.
- The IAEA director said “the physical integrity of the plant” had been violated “several times,” warning of ongoing risks “until we have a situation which is more stable.”
- Lithuania called for an “internationally enforced” safe zone at the Zaporizhzhia plant.
More live updates here.
- Two IAEA inspectors will remain at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant “on a permanent basis,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to the agency, told The Washington Post on Friday.
- Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Friday that it won’t reopen the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline tomorrow as expected, potentially worsening Europe’s energy crunch.
- Grossi told reporters the IAEA plans to establish a “resident” presence to monitor the plant and that a core team will stay there over the coming days.
- The IAEA director said “the physical integrity of the plant” had been violated “several times,” warning of ongoing risks “until we have a situation which is more stable.”
- Lithuania called for an “internationally enforced” safe zone at the Zaporizhzhia plant.
More live updates here.
Russia’s Gazprom says it won’t reopen Nord Stream gas pipeline to Europe as planned
Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Friday that it won’t reopen the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline tomorrow as expected, potentially worsening Europe’s energy crunch.
Gazprom shut down the pipeline, which links Russia and Germany, on Wednesday, for what was supposed to be three days of work. But on Friday, just hours after the Group of Seven industrialized nations announced that they will impose a price cap on Russian oil, the company said that an oil leak had been discovered at a compressor station and the pipeline would not reopen after all.
Germany last month called similar shut-offs a political move by the Kremlin to increase uncertainty as the European Union hits Russia with unprecedented sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine. Friday’s news will deepen fears that Russia will continue to curb — or even cut — gas supply heading into what is expected to be a long, cold winter in Europe.
Read the full story here.
Russian energy giant Gazprom announced Friday that it won’t reopen the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline tomorrow as expected, potentially worsening Europe’s energy crunch.
Gazprom shut down the pipeline, which links Russia and Germany, on Wednesday, for what was supposed to be three days of work. But on Friday, just hours after the Group of Seven industrialized nations announced that they will impose a price cap on Russian oil, the company said that an oil leak had been discovered at a compressor station and the pipeline would not reopen after all.
Germany last month called similar shut-offs a political move by the Kremlin to increase uncertainty as the European Union hits Russia with unprecedented sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine. Friday’s news will deepen fears that Russia will continue to curb — or even cut — gas supply heading into what is expected to be a long, cold winter in Europe.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The European Council president accused Moscow of using “gas as a weapon” after the Russian energy giant said it would not reopen the Nord Stream 1 pipeline Saturday as planned because of a leak. The move threatens shortages in Europe and global price hikes.
- The U.N. nuclear watchdog will keep two monitors at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine on a “permanent” basis, agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said after returning from a mission to the facility. He is expected to issue a report on the safety of the plant soon. Shelling nearby has raised fears of a potential nuclear disaster.
- Russia will hold funeral rites Saturday for Mikhail Gorbachev, laying the last Soviet leader to rest without an official state funeral. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who disdained Gorbachev over the collapse of the Soviet Union, will not attend.
More live updates here.
- The European Council president accused Moscow of using “gas as a weapon” after the Russian energy giant said it would not reopen the Nord Stream 1 pipeline Saturday as planned because of a leak. The move threatens shortages in Europe and global price hikes.
- The U.N. nuclear watchdog will keep two monitors at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine on a “permanent” basis, agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said after returning from a mission to the facility. He is expected to issue a report on the safety of the plant soon. Shelling nearby has raised fears of a potential nuclear disaster.
- Russia will hold funeral rites Saturday for Mikhail Gorbachev, laying the last Soviet leader to rest without an official state funeral. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who disdained Gorbachev over the collapse of the Soviet Union, will not attend.
More live updates here.