Ukrainian nuclear plant shelled again, Zelensky rails at Russian 'terror'

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022.

Ukraine said on Sunday that renewed Russian shelling had damaged three radiation sensors and hurt a worker at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, in the second such hit in consecutive days on Europe's largest nuclear facility.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Saturday night's shelling "Russian nuclear terror" that warranted more international sanctions, this time on Moscow's nuclear sector. Ukraine said Russian shells hit a power line at the plant on Friday.

However, the Russian-installed authority of the area said Ukraine hit the site with a multiple rocket launcher, damaging administrative buildings and an area near a storage facility.

Reuters could not verify either side's version.

Events at the Zaporizhzhia site have alarmed the world, with the global atomic energy agency fearful of a radiation disaster.

Elsewhere, a deal to unblock Ukraine's food exports and ease global shortages gathered pace as another four ships sailed out of Ukrainian Black Sea ports while the first cargo vessel since Russia's Feb 24 invasion docked.

The four outgoing ships had almost 170,000 tonnes of corn and other food. They were sailing under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to try and reverse the war's drastic knock-on for food prices around the world.

Before Moscow's Feb 24 invasion, which Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a "special military operation", Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports. The disruption since then has threatened famine in some parts.

BATTLE FOR DONBAS

Putin's troops are trying to gain control of the Donbas region of east Ukraine where pro-Moscow separatists seized territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea to the south in 2014.

Russian forces stepped up their attacks north and northwest of Donetsk city in the Donbas on Sunday, Ukraine's military said. The Russians attacked Ukrainian positions near the heavily fortified settlements of Piski and Avdiivka, as well as shelling other locations in the Donetsk region, it said.

Kyiv also says Russia was strengthening in southern Ukraine to prevent a potential counter-offensive near Kherson.

Ukraine's chief war crimes prosecutor said almost 26,000 suspected war crimes committed since the invasion were being investigated, with 135 people charged, of whom 15 were in custody. Russia denies targeting civilians.

Beyond Ukraine, a proxy battle played out at the International Chess Federation where former Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich won a second term as president, defeating Ukraine's Andrii Baryshpolets.

And after days of controversy, Amnesty International apologised for "distress and anger" caused by a report accusing Ukraine of endangering civilians. That had infuriated Zelensky and brought the resignation of the rights group's Ukraine boss.