August 8, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Ukrainian Military said Sunday it had inflicted losses on Russian forces in several parts of Donetsk and repelled their efforts to advance in other places.

In a briefing, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said the Russian forces tried to conduct several assaults in Donetsk against multiple settlements near Sloviansk, but the Ukrainian forces pushed them back. 

The Russians also “conducted offensive and assault actions in the districts of Bakhmut, Zaitseve, Yakovlivka and Vershina but were unsuccessful and retreated,” the General Staff added, saying that fighting continues near Kodema, Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Pisky and Mariinka. 

The General Staff also reported that Russia is “concentrating its main efforts on preventing the advance of our troops” in the south and shelling “the entire line of contact.” 

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Sunday of launching rockets at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, further ratcheting fears of an accident a day after the United Nations' watchdog warned that fighting at the occupied complex risked a "nuclear disaster."

It was the second time in as many days that the plant, which is the largest of its kind in Europe, was hit. Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for both attacks.

The rockets launched on Saturday night struck near a dry storage facility, where 174 casks with spent nuclear fuel are kept, according to Energoatom, Ukraine's state-run nuclear power company. Explosions blew out windows in parts of the plant and one worker was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds.

"Apparently, they aimed specifically at the containers with processed fuel, which are stored outside next to the site of shelling," the company said in a statement on Telegram.

Three radiation monitoring detectors were also damaged on Saturday, making "timely detection and response in case of aggravation of the radiation situation or leakage of radiation from spent nuclear fuel casks are currently impossible," Energoatom said.

Kyiv has accused Russian forces of storing heavy weaponry in and launching attacks from the plant, which they took over in early March and still occupy. Moscow, meanwhile, has claimed Ukrainian troops are targeting the complex.

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A bipartisan pair of senators has called on the Biden administration to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism in response to its invasion of Ukraine, saying they would push Congress to pass a bill issuing the designation "whether or not" it had President Joe Biden's support.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" on Sunday that the designation should be made either by the President or Congress, with both of them saying Biden must intensify pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and continue aiding Ukraine amid the ongoing invasion.

Graham, of South Carolina, said he wants the Biden administration to engage with Congress in designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism but said Congress is "willing" to advance legislation calling for the designation regardless.

"I'd like to work with (the Biden administration). But whether or not we have to do legislation to make it happen — we're willing to do. I am urging the administration to act now," Graham said.

Ukraine visit: The two senators traveled together in June to Ukraine, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called on Biden to send more humanitarian aid to the county and issue stronger sanctions in addition to designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

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