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New developments:
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed fears about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in east Ukraine after Russian officials ordered the evacuation of civilians from 18 settlements around the beleaguered nuclear power plant.
"The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," Rafael Mariano Grossi warned in a statement. "I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant. We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment."
The plant is near the front-lines of battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Russia fired more than 30 shells at Nikopol, a Ukrainian-held town neighboring the plant, killing a 72-year-old woman and injuring three others Sunday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine has also mounted attacks in the vicinity of the plant, according to The Associated Press. Grossi has repeatedly warned of the "increasingly unpredictable" conditions around the nuclear facility. Although the plant's reactors are not producing electricity, they are still loaded with nuclear material, he said, and added that he had to travel through a minefield when he visited Zaporizhzhia a few weeks ago, the BBC reported.
Wagner Group
Russia's mercenary Wagner Group reversed its intention to withdraw from the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces will remain there after Moscow promised to provide more arms to conscripts.
In a video posted on his Telegram channel Friday, Prigozhin unleashed a tirade directed at Russia's military officials, accusing them of negligence and incompetence. Pointing toward a field covered with dead soldiers, he screamed at the camera, "These are ... someone's fathers and someone's sons."
"We have a 70% shortage of ammunition! If you give [us] the normal amount of ammunition, there will be five times fewer [dead soldiers]," he added.
Moscow reportedly wants a complete capture of Bakhmut to coincide with the country's upcoming Victory Day (May 9), the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian forces are preparing for a spring counteroffensive Kyiv is planning in hopes of retaking territory captured by Russian forces.
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Russia labor shortage
Russia is facing one its worst labor shortages since 1998. In an intelligence update Sunday, the British Defense Ministry wrote that the Russian Central Bank surveyed 14,000 employees and found that its labor force was at its lowest level since 1998.
The British Defense Ministry said the attrition of manpower due to the war in Ukraine as well as the mass exodus of Russians trying to avoid the draft are partially to blame for the labor shortage. The survey also showed that the Russian population has decreased by 2 million in the last three years due to the COVID pandemic and an aging population.
Russian hypersonic missile downed
Ukraine's air force said Saturday it had intercepted and downed a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired American Patriot defense systems.
This is the first known time the country has been able to intercept one of Moscow's most modern missiles, The Associated Press reported.
Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in a post on the messaging app Telegram that the Kinzhal-type ballistic missile had been intercepted in an overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital earlier in the week. It was the first time Ukraine is known to have used the Patriot defense system.
Flying at 10 times the speed of sound, the Kinzhal is one of the latest and most advanced Russian weapons, and it is difficult to intercept.
Using hypersonic speed and a powerful warhead, the Kinzhal is capable of demolishing robustly fortified targets such as underground bunkers and deep mountain tunnels.
In an interview on Ukraine TV, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said intercepting the Kinzhal was "a slap in the face for Russia."
The first delivery of Patriot missiles arrived in Ukraine in late April. Ukraine has not specified how many of the systems it has received from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, or where they have been deployed.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.