Russia captures Ukrainian nuclear plant; reactors safe, says atomic watchdog

New Delhi, March 4

The Russian military captured Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine and a huge blaze was put out. No damage was caused to the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, said UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi.

Editorial: Human shields

The UN human rights office said over 300 civilians were confirmed killed and 675 injured since the Russian invasion began on February 24. However, the real toll could be much higher, it added.

1,700 stuck, PM takes stock

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• PM Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting on the Ukraine crisis even as the MEA said 1,700 were still stranded in three war-hit cities
• Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla briefed the meeting, also attended by EAM S Jaishankar, on the status of evacuations

IAF’s IL-76 planes on standby

• The IAF has kept two IL-76 aircraft on standby to evacuate those stuck in Ukrainian cities such as Sumy and Kharkiv, officials said
• Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is overseeing evacuations via Slovakia, called on the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic on Friday

India, meanwhile, abstained from voting on a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on the issue and urged for immediate cessation of violence. “No solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives. We are also deeply concerned over the safety and security of thousands of Indians stranded in Ukraine,” India said. Intense fightingwas also reported from eastern Ukraine where about 2,000 Indians are trapped. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi asked them to “hold on in there” as diplomats tried to work out a solution after the Russia-Ukraine agreement to open a humanitarian corridor did not materialise.

The government is also tracking the case of Indian student Harjot who was shot at while trying to travel to the border from Kyiv. “The government will share the cost of his medical treatment,” Bagchi said.

On Russia offering 130 buses, he said they were 50-60 km away from where the students are. “But this is a conflict zone and some contact points between the two armies are posing obstacles in moving them out of the city. We remain engaged with all concerned and ideally there is a need for some degree of local ceasefire,” he added.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, “We are not going to move into Ukraine, neither on the ground, nor in the Ukrainian airspace.” The US also said it had established a military hotline with Russia to prevent “miscalculation”.