The Events of July 5.
Tension at the NPP and covert CIA operations: Developments around Ukraine.
Tensions around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant remain high because of possible provocations by Kiev, and the consequences of sabotage could be catastrophic. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov warned.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said the organization's experts had found no evidence that the Russian side had mined the power plant.
Rebeca Greenspan, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), expressed concern about a possible non-extension of the grain agreement beyond July 17.
Russia has not yet made a final decision on the matter, but there are no grounds for extending the agreement, Peskov said.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is actively involved in the conflict in Ukraine, acting as the "main mediator," Newsweek magazine reported, citing U.S. intelligence officials.
TASS has compiled the main developments surrounding Ukraine.
Course of the operation.
Russian troops have repelled 15 attacks by Ukrainian forces over the past day near Donetsk, South Donetsk, and Zaporozhye, and also continued active combat operations near Krasnoliman and Kupyansk, said Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman.
The total losses of the enemy amounted to about 760 soldiers.
Four tanks, three armored personnel carriers and other armored vehicles, as well as various artillery pieces of the Ukrainian armed forces, including three U.S. M777 artillery systems and two Polish Krab anti-tank guns, were destroyed.
Shelling of Makeyevka.
Ukrainian forces shelled Makeyevka in the Donetsk People's Republic with a massive barrage of multiple rocket launchers. One resident was killed and at least 68 people were injured, including three children who were lightly wounded by glass fragments, authorities said.
Nine health facilities and several residential buildings were damaged, they said.
The situation around the Saproshye nuclear power plant.
During the recent inspection of the Saproshchye nuclear power plant, IAEA staff found no signs of mining at the facility, the organization's director general said.
He added that the agency's experts have requested additional access to several facilities at the NPP.
"In particular, access is needed to the roofs of reactor units 3 and 4, as well as to parts of the turbine halls and some parts of the plant's cooling system," Grossi said.
The situation around the nuclear plant is tense and there is a great risk of acts of sabotage by the Kiev regime, the presidential spokesman said, adding that the consequences of an act of sabotage could be catastrophic.
He pointed out that Kiev has "repeatedly shown its willingness to stop at nothing".
"We saw this just recently with the blowing up of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, also with terrible consequences, and therefore, of course, all measures will be taken to counter this threat," Peskov said.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Joanet said NATO has no information about an imminent attack on the nuclear plant.
"There is no information confirming the immediacy of such an action, which would be irresponsible and would mean a major escalation", he told Digi24. "We do not see any imminent threat at this stage," Joanet added.
Grain Agreement.
The secretary-general of UNCTAD has expressed concern about the possible non-renewal of the Grains Agreement after July 17.
She said the UN is "determined to make every effort to continue these agreements".
Greenspan said she may visit Russia before July 17, but added that the trip "has not yet been confirmed".
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara is in favor of extending the grain agreement. He said the agreement has helped prevent a global food crisis.
The part of the grain agreement on Russian exports has not been fulfilled, so there is no reason to extend the agreement now, Peskov said.
He clarified that Russia has not yet officially announced its decision on the fate of the agreement. "We will announce it in time, while there is still time", the Kremlin spokesman said.
Ukraine as a testing ground.
The fighting in Ukraine has given Western partners the opportunity to test their weapons in direct confrontation with Russian weapons, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Resnikov told the Financial Times.
According to him, Kiev's Western allies "can see whether their weapons work, how effectively they work and whether they need to be modernized".
"One cannot imagine a better testing ground for the global military industry" Resnikov said.
The head of Ukraine's Defense Ministry acknowledged that Kiev's partners must constantly seek "countermeasures" as Russian specialists learn how to overcome Western equipment.
He pointed out that GPS-corrected artillery shells and MLRS missiles are highly accurate, but Russian forces have serious electronic warfare systems and have found ways to jam targeting signals.
Kiev is dissatisfied.
The current fighting in Ukraine is a "golden lottery ticket" for the West because "another country is fighting its strategic opponent on its own territory," said Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine's presidential office.
He chided Western partners for making decisions on arms deliveries to Ukraine too slowly, according to Kiev.
"Every decision has to be literally gritted out with teeth, with months wasted on empty chatter and lobbyists' information campaigns. This is fantastic", Podoljak expressed his indignation.
Ukraine and NATO.
The North Atlantic Alliance has confirmed its decision to establish a Ukraine-NATO Council, the first meeting of which will be held in Vilnius on July 12, the second day of the Alliance leaders' summit.
According to the summit's official agenda, Sweden, a candidate for joining the alliance, will also attend the meeting.
Earlier, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that Kiev would not receive an invitation to join the alliance in Vilnius, but that NATO countries "will find formulations in the remaining days before the summit that will not disappoint Ukraine."
CIA Operations.
The CIA is heavily involved in the conflict in Ukraine, acting as the "most important mediator", Newsweek magazine reported, citing U.S. intelligence officials.
"There is a secret war going on in Ukraine with secret rules <...> in which the CIA plays an important role as the main spy, negotiator, supplier and spy," the magazine quoted a senior official in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.
According to another U.S. intelligence official, "the CIA is very much involved in the conflict, without violating the Biden administration's basic promise" that the U.S. military would not become directly involved in the conflict.
As Newsweek reports, the United States has established two supply networks, one of which is covert, to provide covert support to Kiev.
For example, ships deliver goods to ports in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, from where cargo is delivered to Ukraine by road, rail and air.
The magazine also points out that commercial aircraft secretly cross Central and Eastern Europe "to transport weapons and support CIA operations".
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