Zelenskiy warns of ‘serious threat’ at Zaporizhzhia, as Russia attempts advance in Donetsk

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Saturday that a “serious threat” remained at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and said that Russia was “technically ready” to provoke a localised explosion at the facility.

Mr Zelenskiy cited Ukrainian intelligence as the source of his information. He called for greater international attention to the situation at the facility in southeastern Ukraine, which is Europe’s largest nuclear plant.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, more civilian casualties from Russian shelling were reported in Ukraine’s east and south, officials said.

It comes as Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez visits Kyiv in a show of continuing support from Madrid and the European Union for Ukraine’s fight to dislodge invading Russian forces from its territory.

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In an address to Ukraine’s parliament that received several standing ovations, Mr Sanchez said: “We’ll be with you as long as it takes.”

On the day Spain took over the six-month rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU on Saturday, he added: “I am here to express the firm determination of the European [Union] and Europe against the illegal and unjustified Russian aggression to Ukraine.”

Mr Sanchez will meet Mr Zelenskiy, with the two set to give a joint press conference on Saturday afternoon.

Regional officials said at least three civilians were killed and at least 17 more hurt by Russian shelling on Friday and overnight.

Three people died and 10 more suffered wounds on Friday in the frontline eastern Donetsk region, where fierce battles are raging, governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

The Ukrainian general staff said fierce clashes continued in three areas in Donetsk where it said Russia has massed troops and tried to advance.

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In the latest regular social media update, the general staff named the outskirts of three cities – Bakhmut, Lyman and Marinka – as frontline hot spots and said Russia over the previous day staged unsuccessful assault attempts there.

Five people including a child were hurt on Friday and overnight in the Kherson region in the south, governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Mr Prokudin said Russian forces launched 82 artillery, drone, mortar shell and rocket attacks on the province, which is cut in two by a stretch of the 930-mile (1496km) frontline and still reeling from flooding unleashed by the collapse earlier this month of a major Dnipro river dam.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, Russian shelling over the previous day hurt a 57-year-old civilian man, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said the same morning.

In the Sumy region further west, a teenage boy was hurt in a strike from across the Russian border, the local military administration reported.

Referring to possible peace talks, the Spanish leader, Mr Sanchez, said: “Only Ukraine can set the terms and times for peace negotiations. Other countries and regions are proposing peace plans. Their involvement is much appreciated, but, at the same time, we can’t accept them entirely.

“This is a war of aggression, with an aggressor and a victim. They cannot be treated equally and ignoring the rules should in no way be rewarded. That is why that is why we support president Zelenskiy’s peace formula.” – Agencies