September 2, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Follow the latest news on Russia’s war in Ukraine here and read more about today’s developments in the posts below. 

Siemens Energy, the German manufacturer of the turbines on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, said an oil leak is “not a technical reason” that would justify stopping the supply of gas from Russia to the rest of Europe.

“As the manufacturer of the turbines, we can only state that such a finding is not a technical reason for stopping operation,” it said in a statement to CNN on Friday. 

Earlier on Friday, Russian state energy giant Gazprom said it would not resume flows through the pipeline on Saturday as planned because it had detected an oil leak at its Portovaya compressor station. The pipeline has been shut since Wednesday for maintenance. It didn’t give a timeline of when exports might resume.

According to Siemens, such leakages do not usually affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site.

Siemens also said they had pointed out “several times” that there are enough additional turbines available at the Portovaya compressor station for Nord Stream 1 to operate.

Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission visit the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on September 1,

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said he plans to issue a report on the status of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine early next week. 

Six IAEA staff members remain at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, after Grossi led a 14-person mission of investigators there on Thursday. He added that the number would be reduced to two next week, and those two would be the UN nuclear watchdog’s continuous presence there in the longer term.

The mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant can still be “fruitful” despite Russian control, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

Speaking in a video address streamed at the Ambrosetti Forum, a conference held in Italy and attended by the leaders of various states and businesses, Zelensky expressed disappointment at how Russia is controlling the mission. 

“We did everything to ensure that the IAEA got access to the Zaporizhzhia NPP. I believe that this mission can still be fruitful,” Zelensky stated. 

Earlier on Friday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the organization knows “much more” about the state of the plant after visiting. A team of inspectors will have “continued presence” at the plant, Grossi said. 

Zelensky, who has urged the withdrawal of the Russian military from Zaporizhzhia, said he has not heard the IAEA push Russia on the matter. 

“Unfortunately, we also have not yet heard from the IAEA the key thing — the call to Russia regarding the demilitarization of the plant,” Zelensky said. 

“I really hope that the mission will adhere to what the parties have agreed upon and what is in the interests of the entire international community. The greatest risk of a radiation disaster in 40 years must be removed,” he said.

Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks to reporters after his return from Ukraine at Vienna airport in Schwechat, Austria on September 2.

After visiting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Thursday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters in Vienna that he is mainly concerned about the safety of staff and the power supply.

“It is obvious there is a lot of fighting in this part of Ukraine, so the military activity and operations are increasing in that part of the country, and this worries me a lot,” the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said.

Grossi said that during yesterday’s visit, he and his team saw holes and markings from shelling on buildings of the plant — the biggest nuclear complex of its kind in Europe.

Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for shelling at and around the plant. CNN is unable to verify what strikes occurred or who was responsible.

Regarding the threat to power supply, he said: “It is clear that those who have these military aims know very well that way to cripple or to do more damage is not to look into the reactors, which are enormously sturdy and robust, but to hit where it hurts so the plant becomes very, very problematic.” 

Grossi reiterated that the several inspectors who are currently at the plant will remain there.

Stressing the importance of the IAEA being on site, he said that he now knows much more than he did before the visit. The team is learning more “as we speak,” he said, adding that its presence has “big added value.” 

US President Joe Biden’s administration is outlining its request to Congress for the next government funding bill that includes additional money for what it is describing as “four critical needs,” including support for Ukraine as the war continues.

The White House is requesting $11.7 billion for security and economic assistance for Ukraine and an additional $2 billion “to help address the impacts Putin’s war has had on domestic energy supply and reduce energy costs in the future,” Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Shalanda Young said in a blog post.

Per a summary from the OMB, that $13.7 billion request includes:

The request comes as lawmakers are set to return to Washington, DC, after the August recess facing a major must-pass legislative agenda item: Preventing a government shutdown by the end of the month.

So far, the US has provided approximately $13 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began Feb. 24, a National Security Council official told CNN. The US has also provided $7 billion in grants for direct budget support and over $1.5 billion of humanitarian aid for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees.

These are the latest developments from the war in Ukraine today:

Price cap on Russian oil: Finance ministers from the G7 nations released a joint statement announcing that they have agreed to implement a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products in an attempt to weaken Russian revenues and Russia’s ability to fund the war.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak earlier warned that Moscow would no longer supply countries that choose to implement such restrictions.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: A team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors remains at the site, as the head of the UN nuclear watchdog pledged to have a “continued presence” at the plant. Ukrainian state nuclear operator Energoatom said a second reactor out of six is now up and running.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have demanded that the IAEA press for the demilitarization of the area around the plant, which is currently held by Russian forces. The plant and the adjacent city of Enerhodar have endured persistent shelling that has raised fears of a nuclear accident through the interruption of the power supply to the facility. Each side continues to accuse the other of acts of nuclear terrorism. CNN is unable to verify what strikes occurred or who was responsible.

Key pipeline halted: Russian gas giant Gazprom is completely stopping gas supplies to Nord Stream 1 — which is the biggest pipeline bringing Russian natural gas to Europe — citing an oil leak, Gazprom said in a statement on Friday.

Following a 72-hour shutdown of the pipeline that started Wednesday in order to perform what it said was maintenance work, Gazprom was due to resume gas flows on Saturday.

Battle lines: Russian forces have suffered “significant losses” in the southern region of Kherson following the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched earlier this week, Ukraine’s military said Friday. The military said it is keeping up the pressure on Russian forces in Kherson, with attacks on several targets Thursday, including bridges across the Dnipro river. Ukraine claimed it destroyed a ferry crossing and an ammunition depot in the south.

The Ukrainian military also said the situation in the eastern Donetsk region is virtually unchanged, despite weeks of efforts by Russian forces and their allies in the Donbas militias to take new territory.

The corporate headquarters of Gazprom Germania, the German unit of Russian natural gas company Gazprom, stands on March 30 in Berlin, Germany.

Russian gas giant Gazprom is completely halting gas supplies to Nord Stream 1 and is citing an oil leak, Gazprom said in a statement on Friday.

Nord Stream 1 — the biggest pipeline bringing Russian natural gas supplies to Europe via Germany — was on a planned 72-hour shutdown for maintenance work and was due to resume gas flows tomorrow (Saturday).

However, with this latest statement, Gazprom said the pipeline supply would be “completely stopped” until the the issues with equipment operations are resolved, giving no clear timeline for when the flow would resume.

During maintenance work at its Portovaya compressor station, Gazprom detected an oil leak, it said in the statement, adding that the Russian state watchdog issued a warning to the company and that it has also sent a letter to Siemens about the need to repair the turbine.

CNN is reaching out to Germany’s Energy department for comment.

Putin's daughters; Katerina Tikhonova, left and Mariya Putina, right

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughters have topped the new Ukraine sanctions list.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, the government approved a list including 99 individuals and 178 legal entities.

Putin’s adult daughters Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova were among those named, plus the Russian Federation of Industrial Companies and officials of the national banks of Russia and Belarus.

Earlier this year, the US applied sanctions against the people and entities listed by Ukraine. Ukraine noted that from now on, it will be matching those who are also sanctioned by partner countries.

In its latest operational update, the Ukrainian military says it has destroyed a ferry crossing that Russian forces used across the river Dnipro in the country’s south.

Missile and artillery units “delivered effective strikes on the ferry crossing near the village of Lvove village [Beryslav district] and on two areas where the enemy’s forces were concentrated,” the military’s Operational Command South said.

Another Russian ammunition depot had been destroyed in the Beryslav district of Kherson and a Russian Su-25 combat aircraft had been downed in the the same area, it added.

CNN is unable independently to verify the Ukrainian claims.

Employees work at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a visit by members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission on September 2.

Ukrainian state nuclear operator Energoatom said a second reactor at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is now up and running.

“Today, September 2, 2022, power unit No. 5 of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which was disconnected yesterday morning (September 1) as a result of mortar shelling by the Russian occupying forces at the ZNPP site, was connected to the power grid at 1:10 p.m., and power set continues,” Energoatom said Friday on Telegram.

Both Ukraine and Russia have persistently blamed each other for shelling the site and surrounding areas. CNN is unable to verify what strikes occurred or who was responsible.

Representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency mission continue their work at the plant, Energoatom said.

International Atomic Energy Agency officials from Spain, Jordan, Albania, Lithuania and Romania are currently working at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to a representative of the Russian nuclear operator Rosenergoatom.

The unnamed Rosenergoatom representative was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

A team of five inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog remains at the site, with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi pledging that the IAEA is “not going anywhere” and will have a “continued presence” at the plant.

Rosenergoatom is the Russian nuclear power station operations subsidiary of Atomenergoprom.

Oil storage tanks stand at the RN-Tuapsinsky refinery, operated by Rosneft Oil Co., as tankers sail beyond in Tuapse, Russia, on March 23, 2020.

Finance ministers from the G7 nations released a joint statement announcing that they have agreed to implement a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products in order to “reduce Russian revenues and Russia’s ability to fund its war of aggression.”

“Today we confirm our joint political intention to finalise and implement a comprehensive prohibition of services which enable maritime transportation of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products globally – the provision of such services would only be allowed if the oil and petroleum products are purchased at or below a price (“the price cap”) determined by the broad coalition of countries adhering to and implementing the price cap,” the statement reads.

The price cap’s goal is to reduce Russian revenues, weaken the country’s ability to fund its war and Ukraine and also ease the impact of the war on global energy prices, the statement said.

The measure builds on existing sanctions, particularly those in the sixth EU package, it added.

Ministers said they commit “to urgently work” on the finalizing and implementing the price cap.

Ahead of this G7 meeting, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow would no longer supply oil and petroleum products to countries that choose to implement such restrictions.

An aerial view taken on February 16, shows the headquarters of Equinor in Fornebu, Baerum, Norway.

Norwegian energy company Equinor says it has fully completed its withdrawal from Russia.

In May, Equinor announced its plans to pull out of four joint ventures with Russian oil firm Rosneft and leave an oilfield, the Kharyaga project.

That exit has been completed and there are “no remaining assets or projects in Russia,” Equinor said. 

It’s the first major Western oil firm to fully withdraw from Russia, according to Reuters.

Other big firms like ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and French firm TotalEnergies have all committed to withdrawing from the country or stopping investments, but they are still in the process of completing exits. 

In May, Shell announced the sale of its Russian lubricant and retail energy business, but said it was still in the process of phasing out its other Russian businesses.

In February, BP said it would exit its 19.75% stake in Rosneft but said that sanctions and Russian rules meant that it had not been able to sell its shares yet.

TotalEnergies has sold some of its Russian oilfields but says the deals would not complete until later in September.

ExxonMobil has also outlined plans to exit its operations at the Sakhalin-1 energy project, and said it would no longer invest in new developments in Russia.

A motorcade transporting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission arrives at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, on September 1.

One out of the six nuclear reactors at the Zaporizhzhia power plant is operational, the head of the Russian-backed administration in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia said.

“One power unit remains in operation on Friday at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, delivering 60% of its capacity,” said Yevgeny Balitsky, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Until recently, two reactors were providing power.

Balitsky said his administration had shown details of alleged Ukrainian shelling in the area to the UN nuclear inspectors that visited the plant Thursday .

The team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “recorded all the objects we showed. … They said ‘we don’t give assessments of the military situation.’ … They recorded the incoming shells, they are in the protocols, the hits, we showed them everything,” he said, adding that the Russian-backed authorities were interested in the IAEA’s official view on the operation of the plant and the shelling.

This comes as Ukrainian and Russian agencies continue to accuse each other of trying to subvert the mission of the IAEA to safeguard the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Ukraine accused the Russians of trying to prevent the IAEA mission from getting to know the facts on the ground, which it said will make it difficult for the agency to “make an impartial assessment.”

“The Russian military lies, manipulates and misrepresents reality at Zaporizhzhia NPP by disseminating only information on the IAEA mission visit it could benefit from,” The Ukrainian nuclear power provider, Energoatom, said Friday.

On the other hand, pro-Russian officials in the occupied area are blaming the Ukrainians for impeding the IAEA’s work. An official said that Ukraine “did not stop” shelling “but their intensity significantly decreased” during the visit.

If G7 leaders decide to impose price caps on Russian oil, it will lead to a significant destabilization of oil markets, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

“One thing we can say with certainty: making such a decision will lead to a significant destabilization of oil markets,” Peskov told CNN on a conference call when asked if a potential price cap will hurt Russia financially.

“This is the most effective way, we believe, to hit hard at Putin’s revenue, and doing so will result in not only a drop in Putin’s oil revenue, but also global energy prices as well,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week.

The British finance minister, Nadeem Zahawi, said Thursday he was hopeful that G7 ministers would strike a deal.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters Thursday that, should such restrictions be imposed, Russia will suspend oil and petroleum supplies to states which limit the price of its oil.

Peskov confirmed Novak’s statement Friday saying that Russia will not have oil trade with countries that will join these restrictions.

“Those countries that join the potential price ceiling will not be among the recipients of Russian oil,” he said adding that the Russian oil will go to “alternative directions” instead.

Peskov refused to name the alternative oil partners Russia is planning to trade with, but said “they are more numerous than before.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian forces “do not have heavy weapons in the area of ​​the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” as each side continues to accuse one another of shelling the plant and surrounding area.

Lack of access makes it impossible to verify the claims.

During a conference call Friday at the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, Shoigu said, “The Ukrainian authorities openly lie that the Russian Armed Forces, hiding behind important energy facilities, are shelling the Armed Forces of Ukraine from long-range artillery systems.”

“I responsibly declare that we do not have heavy weapons on the territory of the nuclear power plant and in the surrounding areas. I hope the IAEA commission will be convinced of this,” he said.

Shoigu said that since mid-July the Ukrainian military “have been regularly attacking the infrastructure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” and that 29 attacks had been registered since July 18.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian nuclear power provider, Energoatom, said on Friday that “the Russian military lies, manipulates and misrepresents reality at Zaporizhzhia NPP by disseminating only information on the IAEA mission visit it could benefit from.”

A Russian all-terrain armoured vehicle is parked outside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant during the visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in Ukraine, on September 1.

Ukrainian and Russian agencies continue to accuse each other of trying to subvert the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency to safeguard the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The Ukrainian nuclear power provider, Energoatom, said Friday: “The Russian military lies, manipulates and misrepresents reality at Zaporizhzhia NPP by disseminating only information on the IAEA mission visit it could benefit from.”

It also accused the Russians of trying to prevent the International Atomic Energy Agency mission from getting to know the facts on the ground.”

Energoatom also said: “Military trucks, deployed in the turbine halls of power units in breach of all fire safety requirements, were presented to the IAEA experts as equipment of the chemical defense forces. The Russian military tries to hide all the nuclear and radiation safety violations created by it.” 

For their part, pro-Russian officials in the occupied area are blaming the Ukrainians for impeding the IAEA’s work.

Alexander Volga, head of the military-civil administration of Enerhodar, claimed Friday that “the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not stop, but their intensity significantly decreased,” and that technicians continued to work on restoring power lines damaged “as a result of the massive shelling of Enerhodar from the Ukrainian side.”

Volga said the IAEA team still at the plant “was provided with relevant documents on the nuclear power plant, as well as a map of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Most of the IAEA mission left the plant after a visit of several hours Thursday, but a small team remains behind. The IAEA director general, Rafael Grossi, vowed the agency would have a continuing presence at the plant.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks to the press before leaving from the hotel with the delegation to inspect the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 1.

The day after the highly publicized International Atomic Energy Agency visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a team of five inspectors remains at the site. 

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that the UN nuclear watchdog is “not going anywhere” and will have a “continued presence” at the plant.

Grossi – who left the plant on Thursday – said that he would be reporting to the agency’s Board of Governors “and then we are establishing a continued presence there…so that they can continue to provide me and all of us with the impartial, neutral, technically sound assessment of whatever it may be happening there.”

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians have demanded that the IAEA press for the demilitarization of the area around the plant, which is currently held by Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Thursday video message that demilitarization was “the goal of Ukrainian and international efforts. And it is bad that we have not yet heard the appropriate call from the IAEA. Although we talked about it with Mr. Grossi at our meeting in Kyiv. It was the key – the key – security point of our agreements: demilitarization and full control by our nuclear workers.”

But such a move would be beyond the IAEA’s limited mandate – and the agency shows no sign of addressing it.

Instead, Grossi stressed the technical nature of the visit while in Zaporizhzhia and the examination of what he called “three or four key areas” at the plant, including emergency systems and control rooms 

The so-called “seven pillars” of the agency’s framework include the physical integrity of facilities, their safety systems, secure off-site power supply, effective radiation monitoring systems and reliable communications with the regulator.

Some background:

The plant and the area around it, including the adjacent city of Enerhodar, have endured persistent shelling that has raised fears of a nuclear accident through the interruption of the power supply to the facility. Each side accuses the other of acts of nuclear terrorism.

Russia has insisted the military presence at the plant is to protect it; Ukraine says that the Russians are using the territory of the plant to fire at Ukrainian-held territory on the other side of the river Dnipro.

What now?

Each side is working hard to present its version of the situation to the IAEA team.

The Ukrainian side is concerned that even at the plant, the Russians will seek to withhold the reality from the inspectors. On Thursday, Zelensky said:  “We have specific information that Russia has done a lot of cynical things in order to deceive the [IAEA] mission.” It was a theme picked up Friday by Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom, who said on Telegram: “The Russian occupiers are making every effort to prevent the International Atomic Energy Agency mission from getting to know the facts on the ground at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.”

Alexander Volga, head of the Russian-backed military-civil administration of Enerhodar, said Friday that the IAEA team “was provided with relevant documents on the nuclear power plant, as well as a map of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

The IAEA will tread carefully, sticking to its seven pillars in pursuing a strictly technical path to ensure the plant’s systems are in working order and that it has an uninterrupted power supply. 

A Russian soldier stands guard near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission in Ukraine, on September 1.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko on Friday urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to insist that a military presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is unacceptable.

After a relatively quiet night around the plant and in the nearby city of Enerhodar, Halushchenko said the IAEA specialists at the site “can rise to another level by assessing such significant violations of nuclear safety.” 

“The part of the mission that is currently left on the station will be key one. It is planned that it will stay there for three to four days,” Halushchenko said.

“Recommendations and reports of the IAEA should be sent to Ukraine, the operating organization of the ZNPP — Energoatom. And we must implement these recommendations … But for that we need to have access to the station. It should be returned under the control of Ukraine,” Halushchenko said.

Shutdown risks: Halushchenko said a controlled shutdown of the plant would not alleviate the risks there. 

“Whether the power plant releases the energy to the grid or not does not affect the issue of the nuclear safety. Because even if the power plant does not operate and does not produce the energy — the nuclear material is still there … in the holding pools, and in the storage of the spent fuel on the Zaporizhzhia NPP,” he said.

“So while the nuclear material is still there, there is still a certain hazard present.”