Fresh shelling around Ukraine nuclear plant as U.N. warns of possible ‘disaster’

Heavy shelling continued around Europe’s largest atomic power plant overnight, as the United Nations nuclear chief warned of potentially “catastrophic consequences.”

Ukraine and Russia are once again blaming each other for a fresh attack on the grounds of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine’s state nuclear power company Energoatom said Sunday that radiation monitoring sensors were damaged and at least one worker was injured. “Consequently, timely detection and response in the event of a deterioration in the radiation situation or leakage of radiation from containers of spent nuclear fuel are not yet possible,” the agency said, per Reuters.

Russian rockets hit an area at the plant’s storage facility near where 174 containers with spent nuclear fuel are stored out in the open, Energoatom said, while Russia blamed Ukraine for the strike. This comes as Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), highlighted the potential for “catastrophic consequences” after shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine a day earlier.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for a “stronger response from the international community,” and tweeted that he had spoken with Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, to seek further sanctions on Moscow.

A second caravan of ships loaded with Ukrainian agriculture products sailed from Black Sea ports, as officials hail the movement of grain under a deal brokered by the United Nations and facilitated by Turkey. Four ships carrying almost 170,000 metric tons of grain headed out under the deal to ease the global food crisis, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. The first foreign-flagged ship arrived in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion to be loaded with grain, he said a day earlier - while the first ship to leave, the Razoni, will not arrive in Lebanon on Sunday as planned.

Ukraine’s largest and most profitable port will join those restarting operations following months of blockades, Mustafa Nayyem, deputy infrastructure minister said on Facebook. The Pivdennyi port will work with the Odessa and Chornomorsk ports to export 3 million tons of Ukrainian agricultural products within a month, Nayyem said.

Kyiv hailed the progress: “This is evidence that the ‘grain corridor’ has worked … and works safely at the moment,” though Zelensky has warned that the situation remains fragile.

The head of Amnesty International in Ukraine resigned following a report from the human-rights organization that criticized Ukraine’s military, accusing troops of repeatedly endangering civilians by stationing themselves in heavily-populated areas. Zelensky and other officials swiftly condemned the investigation, arguing that it unfairly blames the victim in Russia’s war and would likely fuel Russian propaganda.

Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for a blast that killed Ukrainian POWs in Olenivka last month. The massacre - a potential war crime - killed at least 50 people.

The “poor performance” of Russian troops amid the conflict with Ukraine has been costly for its military leadership, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday, noting that at least six Russian commanders had been dismissed from their roles in recent months.

Kharkiv’s mayor reported that at least two city districts were targeted by Russian missiles overnight. Ihor Terekhov said information on the victims and destruction in Novobavarsky and Nemyshlyansky was not yet clear.

Russian forces have carried out a string of ground attacks to attempt to break through Ukrainian defensive lines north, west, and south of Donetsk City. In the south of Ukraine, Russian troops remain on the defensive and have not conducted offensive operations, according to an Institute for the Study of War analysis.

Russian men, dying in war, leave many families sad, angry and silent. When Yevgeny Chubarin told his mother he was joining the Russian army to fight against Ukraine, she cried and begged him not to go. By May 15, he had an AK-47 and was on his way. The 24-year-old stone-factory worker was killed the next day, The Post’s Robyn Dixon writes.

Stories like his are taboo in Russia, where the wrenching grief of many families is buried beneath the triumphant bombast of state media. The war is portrayed as an existential struggle for survival, against “Nazis” as well as NATO, and a virtual news blackout about the bloody toll underscores Kremlin anxiety about the durability of its manufactured support.