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.
Katy Perry has blasted off to space along with five other women in the first all-female space crew in over sixty years.
The Firework singer lifted off from West Texas on a Blue Origin rocket before becoming the first artist to sing in space.
Flying alongside Perry were author Lauren Sanchez, the fiancee of Blue Origin owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, journalist and TV presenter Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and filmmaker Kerianne Flynn.
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What happened in Blue Origin all-female space flight
The star-studded crew were supported on the ground by family and friends including Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey, who said she had “never been more proud” of her friend, King.
“There’s only one time all the women are going up for the first time,” Oprah said she told her friend when urging her to go on the flight, telling her she’d regret turning down the opportunity.
(Seated left to right) Lauren Sanchez and Kerianne Flynn, (standing left to right) Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King and Aisha Bowe. Pic: Blue Origin
Katy Perry rings a symbolic bell before boarding the New Shepard rocket. Pic: Blue Origin
Weightlessness
The crew were weightless for just four minutes after passing the Karman line, a 62-mile-high boundary that is internationally recognised as the boundary of space.
Pic: Blue Origin
They could be heard screaming as they began to feel weightless, and told each other to look at the incredible views of the moon.
As the crew were leaving space, Perry started to sing What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.
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‘I feel super-connected to love’
Asked why she chose that song, she said: “It’s not about me or about me singing my songs, it was about a collective energy in there.
“It’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it.”
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Kardashians share support for all-female crew
She confirmed she will be writing a song about the experience.
Katy Perry kisses the ground after the flight. Pic: Blue Origin
The descent
Three parachutes on their capsule opened up to bring them safely back down to Earth and just before they landed, an air cushion blew a cloud of dust up in the west Texas desert, giving a dramatic-looking touchdown.
Pic: Blue Origin
Pic: Blue Origin
“Excited as I am, I’ll be very glad when we come back down,” said self-confessed nervous flier King before liftoff.
When she exited the shuttle, the presenter kissed the floor and said: “Thank you, Jesus”.
She said it was “oddly quiet” in space, and it reminded her that people needed to “do better and be better” on Earth.
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“It was the most incredible experience of my life to be up there and see such vast darkness in space and look down on our planet,” said Flynn, through tears.
“The moon was so beautiful and I feel like that was a special gift just for me,” she said.
Donald Trump has suggested “homegrown criminals” in the US could be deported to jails in El Salvador – saying the US attorney general is “studying the laws right now”.
He made the comment while speaking alongside the Central American nation’s president, Nayib Bukele, in the White House.
The Trump administration has sent hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, since March.
When asked about the deportations – which were briefly blocked by a US court last month – Mr Trump said: “I’d like to go a step further.
“We also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, hit elderly ladies on the back of the head when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters.
“I’d like to include them in people to get out of the country.”
Pic: Reuters
When pressed on the matter by a reporter, he replied: “They’re as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too. I’m all for it.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was present at the meeting, is “studying the laws right now”, the US president added.
“If we can do that, that’s good,” he said. “I’m talking about violent people, really bad people.
“We can do things with the president [of El Salvador] for less money and have great security. He does a great job with that. We have other we’re negotiating with too.”
Read more:
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The Trump administration has been deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to the El Salvador jail since mid-March, when the US president signed the Alien Enemies Act.
The law from 1798 has been invoked just three times before, in wartime. It allows the president to detain and deport immigrants living in the US legally if they are from countries seen as “enemies” of the government.
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Lawyers and immigrant rights groups have been unable to contact the men sent to the 40,000 capacity CECOT prison – the largest detention facility in Latin America.
A judge issued a temporary block on the deportations on 17 March, but this was lifted by the Supreme Court last week.
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