Russian-Ukrainian War Live: First Dam of Kherson Flooded with Dead; UN nuclear watchdog to increase presence at Zaporizhzhia plant | Ukraine

President Joe Biden hosts Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for high-profile talks on Thursday as the British leader makes his first visit to the White House as prime minister.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the 15-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine will be “a priority”, reports the Associated Press. The United States and the United States are the two largest donors to the Ukrainian war effort and play a pivotal role in a long-term effort announced last month to train and eventually equip Ukrainian pilots on fighter jets. F-16.

“The two leaders will review a range of global issues, including our economic partnership or our shared support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s war of aggression, as well as further steps to accelerate the transition. towards clean energy,” said Jean-Pierre.

“The President and Prime Minister will also discuss joint US-UK leadership on critical emerging technologies as well as our work to strengthen our economic security.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced it will strengthen its presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid concerns over the supply of water for cooling the plant’s reactors.

“Given the intensification of IAEA activities under the newly established principles, he will also strengthen the IAEA’s presence at the site, replacing the current team with a larger group traveling with him through the front line,” the IAEA said in an update Wednesday.

It quotes Director General Grossi who said: “The possible loss of the plant’s main source of cooling water further complicates an already extremely difficult and demanding nuclear safety and security situation.”

The update outlines threats to the water supply to the basins that supply the plant’s nuclear cooling reactors. The agency said it was working to ensure there was as much cooling water in reserve as possible in case it could no longer access the Kakhovka reservoir. Water levels in the reservoir continued to drop, the agency said.

He said water levels in the reservoir had already fallen by 2.8 meters since Tuesday, but the hourly rate of loss had slowed to “between 5 and 7 centimeters per hour from a peak of around 11 cm per hour. yesterday”.

“If the level drops below 12.7 meters, the ZNPP will no longer be able to pump water from the reservoir to the site.” he said, adding that this level could be reached in two days.

“In preparing for such an eventuality, the ZNPP is constantly replenishing its water supplies – including the large cooling pond next to the plant as well as its smaller sprinkler cooling ponds and adjacent channels – making full use of water from the Kakhovka reservoir while it still remains possible.”

Three people died following flooding caused by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, local media reported, in what would be the first confirmed fatalities, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his fears for the lives of Ukrainians held by Russia. disaster-affected areas.

Quoting the exiled mayor of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, Yevhen Ryshchuk, the Kyiv Independent reported that “three people drowned” in the Kherson region.

Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. It’s Helen Sullivan with the latest.

At least three people have been confirmed dead following flooding caused by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian media reported on Wednesday, citing the exiled mayor of the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in the region. from Cherson.

And the International Atomic Energy Agency has announced it will boost its presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid concerns over water supplies for cooling the plant’s reactors.

More on these stories shortly. Here are the other key recent developments:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that it was impossible to predict how many people would die in Russian-occupied areas due to flooding, calling for a “clear and swift reaction from the world” to support the victims. “The situation in the occupied parts of the Kherson region is absolutely catastrophic. The occupiers simply abandon people in appalling conditions. No aid, no water, left on roofs of houses in submerged communities,” he said. “If an international organization is not present in the disaster area, it means that it does not exist at all or is incapable.”

• Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were left “without normal access to drinking water” after the destruction, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned. The Ukrainian leader said the evacuation of people and the urgent supply of drinking water were top priorities.

• World Bank to support Ukraine with rapid damage and needs assessment, a senior bank official said on Wednesday. Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s chief operating officer, said the destruction of the Novo Kakhovka dam had “many very serious consequences for the delivery of essential services and the wider environment”.

• Drone footage showed roads and buildings in Kherson completely submerged in floodwaters. The critical dam, which sits along the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s Kherson region – now held by Russia – collapsed on Tuesday, flooding part of the war’s front line.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Putin in a phone call on Wednesday that a full investigation was needed into the destruction of the dam. Erdoğan told Putin that an international commission including the UN and Turkey could be formed to look into the matter, according to a statement from the Turkish president’s office.

• Britain cannot yet say that Russia is responsible for the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday. Asked during a visit to the United States if Russia was responsible, Sunak replied: “I can’t say definitively yet” but that “if true, it will represent a new low. This is an appalling act of barbarism on the part of Russia.

• The United States “cannot say conclusively” who was responsible for the destruction of the dam, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. “We are doing our best to assess,” he told reporters at the White House, noting that “the destruction of civilian infrastructure is not authorized by the laws of war.”

• France will send aid to Ukraine “to meet immediate needs” after the destruction of the dam, said President Emmanuel Macron. Macron said he was expressing his solidarity with the people of Ukraine following what he called an “atrocious act that puts populations in danger”.

• A senior Moscow-backed official in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine said the collapse of the dam had given the Russian military a tactical advantage. Vladimir Saldo said he believed Kiev was responsible for the disaster, but that the destruction of the dam and the resulting floodwaters would make it easier for Russia to defend itself against any Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region.

• Aid workers on the Ukrainian-controlled right bank of the river have reported having to work under fire. The UN humanitarian aid agency has warned that the disaster “is likely to worsen in the coming hours”, with access to clean water and health risks associated with contaminated water among the concerns the most urgent.

• Ukraine has not yet launched a planned counter-offensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, a senior Ukrainian security official said Wednesday. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, dismissed statements by Russian officials who said the counteroffensive had already begun, adding that its start would be obvious to everyone when it happens. .

• The Russian Defense Ministry said “Ukrainian saboteurs” blew up a section of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline on Monday, which transports fertilizers from Russia to Ukraine in the Kharkiv region. There was no immediate comment on Ukraine’s allegations.

• A group of NATO countries may be willing to send troops on the ground to Ukraine if member states fail to provide tangible security guarantees to Kyiv during the summit of alliances in Vilnius, declared the former secretary general of NATO, Anders Rasmussen. Current NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance should discuss options for giving Ukraine security guarantees for the period following its war with Russia.