Ukraine updates: Putin defies ICC arrest warrant in Mongolia
Published September 3, 2024last updated September 3, 2024What you need to know
Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Mongolia despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This visit is important because Mongolia is a member of the ICC and is technically obligated to arrest him.
He met Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh despite Ukraine's request that Mongolia hand Putin over to the court in The Hague.
Meanwhile, the UN atomic watchdog chief said he was on his way to Zaporizhzhia power plant. Rafael Mariano Grossi said his visit to the Russian-controlled plant was to 'help prevent a nuclear accident'
Here are the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine from Tuesday, September 3:
Three die in Russian barrage
Russia continued its stepped-up shelling campaign overnight, claiming two lives in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and another in the central city of Dnipro. One of those killed in Zaporizhzhia was an eight-year-old boy.
There were 313 attacks in Zaporizhzhia area in the past 24 hours, army officials there said.
The military said it was about to shoot down 27 of 35 armed drones that Russia launched across Ukraine overnight.
Russian President Vladimir Putin set to meet Mongolian president
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with Mongolian President Uchnaagiin Chürelsüch on Tuesday, according to the Kremlin.
Putin traveled to the country at the Mongolian leader's invitation to strengthen cooperation between the two nations, according to a Kremlin statement.
Putin landed in the country on Monday evening. This is Putin's first visit to a member country of the International Criminal Court since it issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader in 2023.
Situated between Russia and China, Mongolia has close cultural links to Moscow and important trade links with China.
It has not condemned Russia's war in Ukraine and has abstained during votes on the conflict at the UN.
UN nuclear watchdog chief set to visit Zaporizhzhia plant and meet with Zelenskyy in Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with the director of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday.
Rafael Mariano Grossi posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was on his way to the plant to continue assistance to avoid any nuclear accident.
Grossi will then travel to the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader said.
Grossi is visiting the nuclear plant after Ukraine and Russia last month blamed each other after a fire broke out at the plant.
There was no reported harm to nuclear safety at the time, according to the IAEA.
Zaporizhzhia is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and has been under Russian control since 2022.
The plant has not produced any power for the last two years and all six of its reactors are in cold shutdown.
In a social media post, Zelenskyy said he did not see a safe way to regain control of the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
"It is safer for Ukraine to control the Zaporizhzhia plant, but so far, from the point of view of the battlefield, I do not see such possibilities, and those that probably exist, they are dangerous," he said.
mk/rm (Reuters, dpa, AP, AFP)