Ukraine-Russia war latest: Nuclear watchdog says smoke seen after shelling near Zaporizhzhia plant

Five members of Pussy Riot have been sentenced in absentia to prison in Russia on charges relating to performances criticising the war in Ukraine.

The jail terms handed down to members of the feminist punk group by Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ranged from eight to 13 years, according to Rolling Stone and independent Russian outlet Mediazona.

Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova were accused of spreading “false information” about the Russian army in a music video released in December 2022 entitled “Mama, Don’t Watch TV”. A separate charge relates to an incident in which a member of the group urinated on a portrait of Russian president Vladimir Putin in April 2024.

All five members of the group rejected the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog says shelling has been heard at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine yesterday, and black smoke seen rising from three nearby locations.

The team from the UN’s nuclear watchdog was informed that multiple artillery shells struck an area outside the plant’s perimeter, around 400m (437 yards) from its off-site diesel fuel storage facility, the IAEA said in a statement.

“While there were no reports of casualties or equipment damage, the incident once again underlined the constant dangers to nuclear safety and security,” IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said.

There were no statements on the incident from either Russian or Ukrainian officials.

Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, in the first weeks after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Each side routinely accuses the other of undertaking actions that endanger nuclear safety at the plant.

Canadian minister Chrystia Freeland has said she will step down from prime minister Mark Carney’s cabinet to take up her new role as Canada’s special envoy to Ukraine.

Freeland, who is of Ukrainian heritage, has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia.

“I have decided to step down from cabinet today and turn the page on this chapter in my life. I do not intend to run in the next election,” she said.

She recounted the Carney cabinet’s work to support Ukraine, and said: “We stood with Ukraine against dictatorship.”

In a statement, Carney thanked Freeland “for her extraordinary service in the Cabinet of Canada’s federal government over the last decade”.

He said that he has asked her to serve as Canada’s new Special Representative for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, in addition to her role as a Liberal MP.

Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine’s drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, three industry sources told Reuters.

Ukrainian drones have hit at least 10 refineries – cutting Russia’s refining capacity by almost a fifth at one point – and damaged its leading Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, Ukrainian military officials and Russian industry sources said.

Transneft, which handles more than 80 per cent of all the oil extracted in Russia, has in recent days restricted oil firms’ ability to store oil in its pipeline system, two industry sources close to Russian oil firms told Reuters.

Transneft has also warned producers it may have to accept less oil if its infrastructure sustains further damage, the two sources said.

The attacks could force Russia, which accounts for 9 per cent of global oil production, to ultimately cut output, said the two sources and a third source familiar with oil pumping operations.

The three sources asked not to be named due to sensitivity of the issue.

However, in a statement on its website, Transneft described the news as “fake” and part of the West’s “information war” against Russia.

The Trump administration has approved the first US weapons package for Ukraine funded by Nato countries, two sources aware of the situation told Reuters.

The sources declined to give an exact inventory of what has been approved for purchase by the Europeans for Ukraine, but said it included air defence systems, which Ukraine needs urgently given the huge increase in Russian drone and missile attacks.

They said the tranche of weapons could be shipped soon.

One of the sources said NATO’s new Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List was making its way through the process after clearing the Pentagon’s policy unit, reported Reuters.

“It’s the stuff they’ve been asking for. A lot of stuff,” said the source. “It’s the flow that’s allowed them to stabilise the lines thus far.”

This is the first time US is supplying Ukraine with a new method under Donald Trump with weapons from US stocks using funds from Nato countries.

So far, the Trump administration has only sold weapons to Ukraine or shipped donations which were authorised by former president Joe Biden who was ready to aid Kyiv with its battlefield requirements.

The Kremlin issued a sharp warning to Nato when it said the alliance was “fighting against Russia” and was “de facto involved” in the war in Ukraine.

“Nato is providing direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It can be said with absolute certainty that Nato is fighting against Russia.”

Yet as Russia sends drones into Poland and Romania and organises drills with Belarus, experts say that Putin is testing Nato’s response through its more aggressive movements past Ukrainian borders.

New research has identified some 210 sites where Ukrainian children are believed to have been taken for military training by Russia.

The research, funded by the USA, found that the children also took part in drone manufacturing and other forced re-education as part of the large-scale deportation programme.

Yale’s School of Public Health said in the report that more than 150 new locations had been discovered since it published findings last year, In 2024, it alleged that Russian presidential aircraft had been used to transport children.

Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine’s drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries.

Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian energy assets since August in a bid to reduce the Kremlin’s revenues to finance its war in Ukraine.

Transneft, which handles more than 80% of all the oil extracted in Russia, has in recent days restricted oil firms’ ability to store oil in its pipeline system, two industry sources close to Russian oil firms told Reuters.

Transneft has also warned producers it may have to accept less oil if its infrastructure sustains further damage, the two sources said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in post on X following Tuesday’s call that she and Trump discussed “strengthening our joint efforts to increase economic pressure on Russia through additional measures.”

Trump earlier in the day once again called on Europe to stem its purchase of Russian oil and urged Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to get a deal done with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the war.

Putin, however, has shown scant interest in Trump’s effort to arrange one-on-one talks with Zelensky.

“Zelensky is going to have to make a deal, and Europe has to stop buying oil from Russia,” Trump said.

Von der Leyen said the commission will soon present its 19th package of sanctions against Russia since the start of the war.

She added that the new sanctions will target Russian interests in crypto, banks and energy.