Ukraine claims ‘explosive devices’ planted on roof of Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility
Ukraine has claimed “explosive devices” have been placed on the roof of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of “dangerous provocations” at the facility.
The Ukrainian armed forces quoted “operational data” as saying that the devices had been placed on the roof of the plant’s third and fourth reactors on Tuesday, adding that an attack was possible “in the near future”.
Ukrainian president Mr Zelenskyy said: “Now we have information from our intelligence that the Russian troops have placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“Perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant. Perhaps they have some other scenario.”
Throughout the war, nuclear experts have repeatedly warned of a potential disaster at the Russian-occupied plant in southern Ukraine.
An adviser of Russia’s nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom said Ukraine planned to drop ammunition laced with nuclear waste transported from another of the country’s five nuclear stations on the plant.
Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Rosenergoatom, was quoted by Russian media as saying that Ukraine’s military will try to attack the plant on Wednesday “using long-range precision equipment and kamikaze attack drones”.
Both Mr Karchaa and Ukraine provided no evidence for their assertions.
Recent warnings have led to a number of Ukrainians trying to leave the country with queues at the border crossing to Moldova running for two miles.
The Ukrainian government has also issued guidance on what to do in the event of a nuclear emergency.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused the other of shelling around the facility, which is Europe’s largest nuclear plant with six reactors.
Mr Zelenskyy said over the weekend that a “serious threat” remains at the plant, with Ukrainian intelligence suggesting Russia was “technically ready” to provoke a localised explosion at the facility.
When Russia claims Ukraine is about to do something it often means they are about to do it themselves
It was a nerve-wracking night for Ukrainians and the anxiety goes on.
Having a nuclear power plant in enemy hands has been the cause of deep concern for Ukrainians throughout the war. Never more so than now.
When Russians claim the Ukrainians are about to do something it often means they are about to do it themselves, most recently with the Kakhovka Dam shortly before it’s believed the Russians blew it up.
So claims by Russians that the Ukrainians were about to attack the Zaporizhzhia power plant last night were deeply worrying.
This is what we know about the plant.
Sky sources at the plant say they have noticed a reduction in the number of patrols there and Ukrainian military intelligence says it believes Russians have partially withdrawn from the plant.
That may or may not be a sign they are planning to create an incident there.
The good news is the International Atomic Energy Agency said a few days ago there were no signs of explosives being laid there.
We are in the thick of an information war and the Russians have had no qualms about using their control of the plant to spread fear before.
What worries the Ukrainians most is what Russia did to the Kakhovka dam a month ago and the muted response from the rest of the world.
It created a massive disaster by unleashing the contents of Europe’s second-biggest reservoir, flooding the homes of tens of thousands of people downstream and depriving the same number of water upstream.
Voices in the West condemned the move but a delegation of African leaders came to Ukraine the week after and made little of it, urging both sides to de-escalate instead.
Their determination to find a moral equivalency between invaders and the invaded utterly infuriated the Ukrainians.
If Putin was testing the water for his next act of mass destruction he will hardly have felt deterred, making the Ukrainians’ jitters over Zaporizhzhia all the more understandable.
Read more: Dominic Waghorn’s analysis in full
It also claimed that the number of Russian personnel at the plant is gradually being reduced – Moscow has not commented on the apparent drawdown.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has tried to clinch a deal to ensure the plant is demilitarised and reduce risks of any possible accident.
Last week, it said it had “so far found no visible indications of mines or other explosives currently planted” at the facility, but said it was aware of the reports and needed additional access to carry out further such checks at the site.
The biggest nuclear risk at the plant is from overheating nuclear fuel, which could happen if the power that drives the cooling systems is cut or if there is not enough water to supply the cooling systems.
Shelling has repeatedly cut power lines.
The Syrian presidency has announced it’s assembling a special taskforce to try to stop nearly a week of sectarian clashes in the southern Druze city of Sweida.
The presidency called for restraint on all sides and said it is making strenuous efforts to “stop the fighting and curb the violations that threaten the security of the citizens and the safety of society”.
By early Saturday morning, a ceasefire had been confirmed by the US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, who posted on X that Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a ceasefire supported by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
The post went on to state that this agreement had the support of “Turkey, Jordan and its neighbours” and called upon the Druze, Bedouins, and Sunni factions to put down their arms.
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford reports from the road leading to Sweida, the city that has become the epicentre of Syria’s sectarian violence.
For the past 24 hours, we’ve watched as Syria‘s multiple Arab tribes began mobilising in the Sweida province to help defend their Bedouin brethren.
Thousands travelled from multiple different Syrian areas and had reached the edge of Sweida city by Friday nightfall after a day of almost non-stop violent clashes and killings.
“We have come to protect the [Arab] Bedouin women and children who are being terrorised by the Druze,” they told us.
Arab fighters said they had come to protect the Bedouin women and children
Fighters at a petrol station
Every shop and every home in the streets leading up to Sweida city has been burned or ransacked, the contents destroyed or looted.
We saw tribal fighters loading the back of pickup trucks and driving away from the city with vehicles packed with looted goods from Druze homes.
Shops and homes leading up to Sweida city have been burned or ransacked
Several videos posted online showed violence against the Druze, including one where tribal fighters force three men to throw themselves off a high-rise balcony and are seen being shot as they do so.
Doctors at the nearby community hospital in Buser al Harir said there had been a constant stream of casualties being brought in. As we watched, another dead fighter was carried out of an ambulance.
The medics estimated there had been more than 600 dead in their area alone. “The youngest child who was killed was a one-and-a-half-year-old baby,” one doctor told us.
Doctors said there had been a constant stream of casualties due to violence
The violence is the most dangerous outbreak of sectarian clashes since the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime last December – and the most serious challenge for the new leader to navigate.
The newly brokered deal is aimed at ending the sectarian killings and restoring some sort of stability in a country which is emerging from more than a decade of civil war.
Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, the US ambassador to Turkey has said.
Several hundred people have reportedly been killed this week in the south of Syria in violence involving local fighters, government authorities and Bedouin tribes.
As the violence escalated in the southern province of Sweida, Israel launched airstrikes, including attacks on Wednesday on the defence ministry in Damascus and a target near the presidential palace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said it aimed to protect Syrian Druze – part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel.
In a post on X, the US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and others.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity,” Mr Barrack said in a post on X.
The Israeli embassy in Washington and Syrian Consulate in Canada did not immediately comment or respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency.
The ceasefire announcement came after the US worked to put an end to the conflict, with secretary of state Marco Rubio saying on Wednesday that steps had been agreed to end a “troubling and horrifying situation”.
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Why is Israel bombing Syria?
After Israel warned it would destroy forces attacking Syrian Druze, Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa told the minority group in a televised statement on Thursday that “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.
He then claimed Israel has “consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime”.
It comes after the United Nations’ migration agency said earlier on Friday that nearly 80,000 people had been displaced in the region since violence broke out on Sunday.
It also said that essential services, including water and electricity, had collapsed in Sweida, telecommunications systems were widely disrupted, and health facilities in Sweida and Daraa were under severe strain.
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At least three people have been killed after a “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility, officials have said.
A spokesperson for the department said there was an explosion at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in east LA.
The incident was reported at around 7.30am local time (3.30pm UK time).
Aerial footage from local channel KABC-TV suggests the blast happened in a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks.
The training centre in east LA. Pic: NBC Los Angeles
Attorney general Pam Bondi wrote on X: “I just spoke to @USAttyEssayli about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles.
“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more.”
California congressman Jimmy Sanchez said the explosion had “claimed the lives of at least three deputies”.
“My condolences to the families and everyone impacted by this loss,” he said.
Media and law enforcement officials near the explosion site. Pic: AP
The attorney general said in a follow-up post that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are “on the ground to support”.
The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said the LAPD bomb squad has also responded to the scene.
“The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the incident, his press office said in a post on X.
“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the Sheriff’s Department and closely monitoring the situation, and has offered full state assistance,” it added.
The cause of the explosion is being investigated.
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