Pope Francis received the ambassador of Ukraine to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, in audience this morning in the Vatican. This was reported by the Bulletin of the Vatican Press Office.
The meeting was set to agree on the possibility and modalities of the trip that the Pontiff intends to make to Kiev , the Vatican secretary for relations with states, mgr. Paul Richard Gallagher.
"I am very close to Ukraine and I want to express this closeness with my visit", said the Pontiff according to Yurash: "Ukraine for many years and especially since the beginning of the war has been waiting for the Pope and will be happy to greet him before the his trip to Kazakhstan ", Yurash guarantees. The trip should be done in September.
Meanwhile, tension remains high at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia , under the control of Russian forces: "One of the reactors was shut down, yesterday's bombing caused a serious risk for the safe operation of the plant", the company said today. Ukrainian for atomic energy Energoatom, following the attacks that Kiev and Moscow accuse each other of having launched.
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The day by the hour:
2.30 pm - 600 civilians evacuated from Donetsk in 24 hours
More than 600 civilians have been evacuated from the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the direction of the region's state emergency service said on Facebook, according to Ukrinform. Overall, 601 people were evacuated, including 22 children, the message reads. Since the invasion began on February 24, 9,590 people have been evacuated from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
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13.45 - Moscow: "A fuel depot near the nuclear power plant hit"
The Russian army has announced that it has destroyed a Ukrainian army fuel depot with more than 50,000 tons of diesel fuel near Zaporizhzhia, where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located. This was reported by the Russian state agency Tass. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a briefing today that the fuel was "destined for the Dnepr operational task force". Yesterday the rebound of responsibility between Moscow and Kiev on the bombs that hit the territory of the nuclear power plant causing damage to two power lines.
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12.05 - The Pope receives the ambassador of Ukraine, the trip to Kiev on the table
Pope Francis received the ambassador of Ukraine to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, in audience this morning in the Vatican. This was reported by the Bulletin of the Vatican Press Office. The meeting was set to agree on the possibility and modalities of the trip that the Pontiff intends to make to Kiev, the Vatican secretary for relations with states, mgr. Paul Richard Gallagher.
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10.15 - More Russian bombs on Mykolaiv, 2 seriously injured
Two people were seriously injured by new Russian bombing last night on the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, the press service of the regional state administration reported on Facebook, according to Ukrinform. "On the night of August 6, around 03:30 (2:30 in Italy, ed), the enemy launched missile attacks on the city of Mykolaiv, seriously injuring two people. Residential buildings were also damaged", reads in the message. Yesterday, as is known, Russian troops hit the residential districts of the Korabelny district of the city of Mykolaiv, killing one person and injuring 21 others. In addition, 21 houses and the premises of two companies were damaged by the bombing.
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9.35 am - Russian bombs on Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih, three wounded
Three people were injured last night following attacks by Russian forces against the districts of Nikopol (south) and Kryvyi Rih (center): the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, said on Telegram. what Ukrinform reports. "After midnight, the Russian army fired with Mlrs Grad (multiple launch systems, ed) on the Nikopol district and with artillery on the Kryvyi Rih district - wrote Reznichenko -. As usual, they hit residential neighborhoods. , people who were asleep at that time. Twenty rockets hit Nikopol. Three residents were injured. One of them, a 58-year-old man, is in hospital. " According to Reznichenko, 11 five-story buildings, up to 40 private homes, a kindergarten and a children's recreation center were damaged.
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8.40 am - United Kingdom: "Russian forces gather to the south for a possible assault"
Russian forces are almost certainly regrouping in southern Ukraine in anticipation of a Kiev counter-offensive or to prepare for a possible assault: British intelligence writes in its daily update on the situation in the country. Meanwhile, the report published by the Ministry of Defense on Twitter points out, Moscow soldiers are increasingly targeting targets such as bridges, ammunition depots and railway junctions in the southern regions of the country. The war is about to enter a new phase, concludes the report, in which the heaviest fighting will affect a front of about 350 km, from Zaporizhzhia to Kherson, parallel to the Dnipro River.
(Unioneonline)