© Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in Tehran, Iran, July 19, 2022. President’s Website/WANA (West Asian News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
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(Reuters) – As Ukraine launches a new campaign to retake territory it says has breached enemy lines in several areas near the southern city of Kherson, Moscow says Kiev’s counter-offensive by shelling the Russian port city of Mykolaiv has failed.
Nuclear plant
* The United Nations nuclear watchdog (IAEA) is heading to Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the agency’s chief said, as Russia and Ukraine trade fire on the site and raise fears of a possible radiation accident.
*The Russian Defense Ministry said the Russian military shot down a Ukrainian drone while attempting to attack the Zaporizhia reactor complex, while other officials said a Ukrainian missile hit a fuel storage facility at the plant.
* The White House said Monday that Russia must agree to a demilitarized zone around the plant.* Thousands of people fleeing Russian-held areas of southern Ukraine are arriving in a town near the Zaporizhia nuclear plant. For many, a shooting in their hometown is a more pressing threat.
fight
* The counter-attacking Ukrainian troops broke through several Russian defenses on the front line near the city of Kherson, according to a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. It killed two people and destroyed a house, city officials and witnesses said.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Diplomacy, economy
* Germany is facing the “bitter reality” that Russia will not restore gas supplies to the country, Germany’s economy minister said on Monday, after state energy giant Gazprom (MCC) sent the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of economic terrorism in Europe’s energy crisis for trying to bail out its biggest Russian gas importer by importing at least 19 billion euros with Germany.
* Russia’s oil output has exceeded expectations following the Ukraine war, but Moscow will find it difficult to maintain production as Western sanctions begin to bite, the head of the International Energy Agency said on Monday.
* Ukraine’s agricultural exports could increase to 6 million-6.5 million tonnes in October, double the amount seen in July, as its seaports gradually reopen, the country’s agriculture minister said on Monday.