???? Live: Russia says it thwarted overnight drone attacks on Sevastopol

Issued on: 07/05/2023 – 11:35

11:00am: Russian evacuation prompts watchdog warning over Ukraine nuclear plant

The UN nuclear chief warned of dangerous conditions around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as Russia’s evacuation of civilians from near the Zaporizhzhia station sparks fears of escalating conflict in the area.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly raised concerns over the safety of the six-reactor plant in southern Ukraine, which has been on the front line since Russian forces seized it last year. 

Blaming stepped-up shelling from the Ukrainian side, Russia last week ordered families with children and elderly to temporarily evacuate the nearby town of Enerhodar. 

10:53am: Ukraine attacks on Russia’s Belgorod damage gas pipeline and power lines

Overnight Ukrainian shelling of the Belgorod region on Russia’s border with Ukraine damaged a gas pipeline and power lines as well as a house in the village of Spodaryushino, the region’s governor said on Sunday.

“Most importantly, there were no casualties,” Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the report.

10:50am: Ukraine launches more than 10 drones on Crimea, says Russia-installed official

Ukraine launched more than 10 drones overnight on the Crimean Peninsula, including three on the port of Sevastopol, a Russian-installed official said early on Sunday. He added that air defence systems had repelled all the attacks targeting Sevastopol.

“No objects (in Sevastopol) were damaged,” Moscow-installed Sevastopol governor said on the Telegram messaging app.

There were no immediate details of any damage from the strikes elsewhere on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s law enforcement agencies, reported earlier on Sunday that according to the channel’s preliminary information, there were no casualties in what it said was a series of attacks on Crimea.

• Key developments from Saturday, May 6:

The chief of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner on Saturday asked Moscow to let him hand over his positions in the hotspot city of Bakhmut to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

“I ask you to issue a combat order before 00:00 on May 10 concerning the transfer of the positions of the Wagner paramilitary units in Bakhmut and its periphery, to the units of the Akhmat battalion,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a letter to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The Akhmat battalion refers to the Chechen combat units under the command of strongman Kadyrov, who has ruled Russia’s Muslim-majority republic Chechnya for the last decade and a half.

Prigozhin said his fighters would be forced to pull out because of a long “ammunition famine”.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded