Ukraine warns of new 'provocations' and shelling near occupied nuclear power plant

Ukraine's defense intelligence agency warned on Saturday of new Russian "provocations" at an occupied nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, while the exiled mayor of the town where the plant is located said the town had been subjected to new shelling.

Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov, who was evacuated to Kiev-controlled territory in April, wrote in Telegram that local residents informed him on Saturday about new Russian shelling in the direction of the town's industrial zone and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It was not clear whether any artillery shells had hit the plant grounds. Russian-placed local official Vladimir Rogov wrote in Telegram that Ukrainian forces had shelled the plant. "According to eyewitnesses, explosions are heard again in the town," Rogov said, adding that artillery shells had fallen near the plant but did not specify whether they had hit the plant's territory. Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over several recent shelling incidents at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, while the G7 group countries have called on Moscow to withdraw its forces from the plant. Ukraine's presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak accused Russia of "striking the part of the nuclear power plant that produces energy to power southern Ukraine." "The goal is to separate us (from the plant) and blame the Ukrainian military for it," Podolyak wrote on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency said Russia was preparing new "provocations" at the plant and that Russian troops had parked a Pion self-propelled howitzer outside the nearby town and hung a Ukrainian flag on it. The agency shared a photo that appears to show the cannon in question. The agency also said Thursday's attacks on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Ukraine said damaged water pumping infrastructure and a fire station, were carried out from the Russian-controlled village of Vodiane, about seven kilometers east of the plant.