Ukraine Strikes Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Russia Says

What follows is NewsGuard’s summary and translation of top news stories from Russia’s state TV Channel One. NewsGuard presents these stories in the order that they appear on the program.

Ukraine strikes Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, chemical enterprises

Ukraine confirmed last week its essence as a terrorist state. Almost every day, Ukrainian formations attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the satellite town of Energodar. The effective work of the Russian air defense forces is making it possible to avoid a nuclear catastrophe.

But it’s not just nuclear power plants. Attacks targeted other dangerous objects. In Donetsk, one attack resulted in an ammonia leak. Three of the six turbines at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station downstream from Zaporizhzhia along the Dnieper have been shut off, where only a dam holds back huge masses of water.

Kyiv can cause damage with high-precision Western weapons, it’s scary to think what kind of damage. Russia is warning about this. The West does not seem to listen, although, if something happens, half of Europe will find out. Yet, they say that we are to blame.

Ivan Konavolov, Channel One correspondent, said “the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe….Damage to this powerful nuclear infrastructure would cause catastrophic damage. Nevertheless, it has become a target for missile and artillery strikes by the Ukrainian army. Shots arе fired by the 44th Artillery Brigade with Western-made ammunition.”

Independent experts to review report from Amnesty International

A sensational report from the human rights organization Amnesty International about Ukraine deploying troops and ammunition depots near the civilian population will be reviewed by independent experts. This was reported by the German media.

Typically, there have been statements from abroad that it was Russia using such prohibited methods. Amnesty International has never been sympathetic to our country. The report, of course, caused a storm of indignation both in Kyiv and among its Western orchestrators. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the review will result in changes to the report that will suit the pro-Ukrainian West.

Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova said, “Because the result should be different. The one that suits the mainstream. Facts don’t matter. If they said that the Kyiv regime does not shoot at civilians, it means that it does not shoot. This is an anti-scientific approach. But it is precisely its existence that makes the current Western system a dictatorship.”

Allied forces took Pisky, one of most powerful fortified areas of nationalists

The geographical point of the week, from where the Kyiv regime no longer attacks: Pisky, a small settlement and one of the most powerful fortified areas of the nationalists in the Donbas, is now under the complete control of the allied forces, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. For eight years, there was regular firing in Donetsk. The capture of Pisky opens up the possibility of further offensives by our forces.

Returning mercenaries spoke about how everyone was treated

On August 15, a closed trial of five mercenaries who fought on the side of Ukraine will begin in Donetsk. They are citizens of Sweden, Croatia and Great Britain. We recall that two Britons, as well as a citizen of Morocco, have been sentenced to death in the Donetsk People’s Republic. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, out of more than 7,000 foreigners who arrived in Ukraine since February 24, almost 2,700 were killed and about 2,500 fled. Now they are at home, telling journalists stories about corruption, theft and incompetence in the Ukrainian command.

The program features an interview on TV5MONDE Info, a French TV network, with a mercenary named A.J. He said, “We just returned from this mission. It was a stupid mission. Four of our men were killed. The information we got during the mission was all wrong.”

The segment quoted a mercenary from an article in Ishgal, a news site owned and operated by U.S. journalist Lindsey Snell, saying, “I suppose it’s not the story people want to hear, but the gap between how the war is shown in the media and the reality of the place is kind of ridiculous. The lack of training and organization.”

Foreign media institutions involved in Ukrainian propaganda against Russia

Over the past week, it has become more clear that the West does not only supply Ukraine with mercenaries or pump it with weapons, it is also involved in Ukrainian propaganda against Russia. A total of 90 foreign media structures are engaged in the formation and dissemination of fakes. The organizer of this on the American television channels ABC, NBC and HBO is (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky’s freelance adviser, U.S. citizen Andrew Mac. Meanwhile, British citizens Nicky Regazzoni and Francis Ingram in the office of the Ukrainian president have been called the main directors of the events in Bucha.

Columns about the atrocities of the Russian troops are published by the British Guardian and at the suggestion of the U.S.-based Campaign Age (NewsGuard did not find any information about such a campaign.) It interacts directly with the so-called Ukrainian Media Center, which, in turn, engages with various media outlets that are on the register of foreign agents in Russia.

Russian authorities put Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon on wanted list

In a criminal case on hoaxes about the Russian army, inciting ethnic hatred and public calls for war, the Russian authorities put Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon on the wanted list and arrested in absentia.

Zelensky called on all countries to expel Russian citizens and ban entry

In an interview with The Washington Post (and this newspaper does not just print articles for the sake of it), Zelensky called on all countries—primarily, of course, Western ones—not to let Russian citizens in. He said those who have already arrived should be sent back.

Here is the Ukrainian president in a demonic black outfit in an interview with the American newspaper demanding that Russians not be allowed into Europe. Zelensky said, “the most important sanctions are to close the borders—because the Russians are taking away someone else’s land. Russians should live in their own world until they change their philosophy.”

Newsweek columnist gave assessment of Zelensky’s actions

Zelensky is doing his best to remain an important part of the anti-Russia project. He proposed to the Rada [the Ukrainian parliament], which is controlled by the pro-presidential majority, to extend martial law and mobilization until November 21. That means new foreign military supplies and new foreign loans.

Zelensky spends almost two-thirds of the state’s income on the army, and only 40 percent is returned in the form of taxes. Of the 9 billion promised by the European Union, Kyiv has received only a billion.

In the near future, the number of crimes in the field of arms trafficking, murders, car thefts and thefts will increase, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine predicted.

Ukraine is a “black hole” in the view of Steve Cortes, a columnist for Newsweek.

The segment quotes a Newsweek column saying, “Volodymyr Zelensky increasingly reveals his true nature. For months, the Ukrainian president has enjoyed nonstop adulation from the American press and audiences with celebrity glitterati. But now, the reality of his rule in Ukraine is becoming undeniable, even to his most ardent enablers in America. So, American taxpayers borrow tens of billions of dollars their country does not have, to send fortunes to the unaccountable leader of a corrupt country, all to escalate a war in which America has no vital national interest.”

Sanctions on Russia, drought lead to higher prices, energy crisis in Europe

Two more ships with food left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, bringing the total number to 16 since Russia, Turkey and Ukraine reached agreements on a grain corridor in Istanbul. According to the U.N., most of the cargo goes to seaside cities in Europe, not the countries of Africa and Asia that are on the verge of starvation. However, the West previously said that Ukrainian grain is vital for their security.

Europe has had its worst drought in five centuries. It has an energy crisis. Prices are rising and there is Russophobia. Finnish TV has begun to call those who go to refuel cars in Russia as traitors to the motherland, because it is cheaper here.

Reuters said, “Economists estimate the disruption could knock as much as half a percentage point off Germany’s overall economic growth this year.”

The segment quotes German economist Hans-Werner Sinn, saying, “If he [Putin] supplies us gas, we might not have a recession.”

Kherson region begins to issue Russian-style license plates

Another sign of the new age. The Kherson region began to issue Russian-style license plates. The region code on them is 184. Also, motorists can get a Russian driver’s license. It will soon become even easier to do this as additional traffic police departments will open in the near future.