Next to the war in Ukraine and Russian
officials say a fire has been
extinguished at the Kursk nuclear power
plant after air defenses shot down a
Ukrainian drone. The authorities say a
transformer was damaged by falling
debris, but radiation levels are normal
and there's no wider danger. Ukraine has
also been targeting oil refineries in
recent weeks. Today is Independence Day
in Ukraine, marking 34 years since
Ukraine left the Soviet Union and the
fourth since Russia's full-scale
invasion in 2022. President Zalinski has
accused Moscow of doing everything
possible to prevent a meeting with
President Putin aimed at ending the war.
Meanwhile, heavy Russian attacks on
Ukraine have continued in the past week.
As I mentioned, it is Independence Day
today in Ukraine and this is the scene
live at just after 10 9 in the morning
at Independence Square. And we can go
live to the Ukrainian capital and talk
to our correspondent Katie Watson in
Kev. Katie, I wondered if I could start
first on what the latest on the cursed
nuclear power plant is.
>> So, Russia has blamed Ukraine for this
attack on the power plant. The power
plant put out a statement saying um that
there was a there was a drone attack. U
it the the drone got shot down and as it
fell there was debris um that caused a
fire. That fire was uh put out. There
was no effect on on radiation. There
were no casualties. But of course the
the International Atomic Energy Agency
has repeatedly called for restraint from
both sides um you know when it comes to
to nuclear facilities. So this of course
you know is is concerning news that
we've heard overnight. It is
Independence Day today. Are there any
events planned around the anniversary?
>> Yes. So, the prime minister of Canada,
Mark Carney, has just said he's arrived
in Ke. So, we'll be at events with the
president, President Zilinski, also put
out a statement uh talking uh putting
put out a video talking about
independence and the importance of
independence in in Ukraine, saying that
such a goal is worth living for and this
is what uh we stand for. But events are
more subdued than they have been in the
past. In the past, there would have been
big parades uh through the center of
Kev. Now big big gatherings like that
are no longer. Um but still it's a very
important day here. Uh elsewhere um
they've Ukrainians have been asked to
make sure that you know to to mark this
event and of course in the UK as well
the government has said that they will
be raising the Ukrainian flag on
government buildings including uh in
Downing Street. So the the day is
definitely being marked around the world
as as it is here in Ukraine.
>> I know you've been talking to a lot of
Ukrainians over the past week or so.
What is their mood at the moment?
>> I think people here are just waiting to
see what happens. There's been so many
talks. There's been so many back and
forths. I think very few people really
think anything will come out of any
talks because they're war weary. They've
been going through a war, you know,
since the full scale invasion of 2022.
It's been really really difficult. Every
day uh there are attacks. Um and then
there are these diplomatic talks that
you know with promises to lead
somewhere. Um but as yet this is a
country very much at war. And I think I
think cautious optimism perhaps but also
a feeling of we'll see it. Well, you
know we'll believe it when it happens.
>> Meanwhile, the fighting continues both
air attacks, drone attacks, but also on
the ground as well.
>> Yeah. So, I mean, just a few days ago,
there was an air raid siren that rang
out and it ke the alert remained in
place for about eight hours and and and
covered the whole country. Um, but in
the east of the country, Russia has been
making some small gains. Um and you know
it's still very difficult uh on the
ground with course casualties on both
sides and that's something that I think
people speaking to people here you know
there is a feeling of wanting of
absolutely wanting this war to be over
wanting the the killings to stop um and
wanting some kind of some kind of peace
but what that means and whether Vladimir
Putin will come to the table and sit
down with President Silinski I think few
people here in Ukraine really believe
that would happen.
>> Katy Watson live in Kev. Thank you very
much indeed. Well, earlier I spoke to
Matthew Schmidt, associate professor of
national security at the University of
New Haven. He's a specialist on defense
and intelligence, and I started by
asking for his assessment on those
recent diplomatic efforts to end the
war.
>> We're back to where Zalinsky and other
critics said we would be before the
Alaska meeting with Russia, you know,
dropping bombs and and firing drones on
Ukraine and and killing civilians. uh
and and basically refusing to come to
peace negotiations. So we're we're
actually backwards from where we were
then.
>> Is it just Moscow's strategy to just
delay delay delay?
>> It is right now. Moscow needs to achieve
a ceasefire and so does Ukraine
eventually,
but Moscow can wait another 6 or 12
months and Ukraine's on a tighter
timeline. But right now, Putin is just
going to drag this out as long as he
can. There's no incentive to negotiate.
He won't do any better on the
battlefield by negotiating than by
continuing to fight.
>> So, what does President Trump do next?
He says he wants to sort the Ukraine
war. We all know that he said he would
do it within 24 hours when he became
president, but obviously that didn't
happen. He's now saying he'll decide in
two weeks what to do about the war and
that he says it will be a very important
decision. What do you think his decision
is going to be?
>> Well, I think it's a fool's errand to
try to answer what Donald Trump will do
tomorrow. Um, but hey, let's try. Uh, if
I were going to put money out there, I
would say that he's going to do the safe
thing, which is to wash his hands from
any negotiations again, to do what he
did earlier in the summer, uh, you know,
and and see what happens. But he's an
opportunist. If the opportunity arises
again to to uh to try to move this
forward, I don't think he's going to
walk away from it. But right now, it
seems that the safe political bet for
him is to say, "I tried. It wasn't my
fault." Moving on.
>> Meanwhile, the bombing and the fighting
continues on the ground. Who would you
say has the upper hand at the moment in
in the war?
>> In the short term, it's really hard to
say. Russia is, you know, continuing to
gain ground, but it's slow and it's at
enormous costs. You we're talking uh a
million casualties uh right now on the
Russian side. Uh that's more than double
what we expect that Ukraine has. Uh and
so Russia is able to move, but they're
not able to move decisively. And
Ukrainian defenses are being shored up
by time, and they're being shored up by
European and American weapons that are
coming in. So, it's it's pretty unclear
right now. We're sort of in the middle
ground and we'll see how this shakes out
over the next couple months.
>> It is Independence Day today. What would
you say is the mood amongst Ukrainians
at the moment?
>> Defiance, exhaustion, a recognition that
this war is the real war of independence
for Ukraine that they celebrated in 1991
being free from Soviet dictatorship. uh
and they're continuing to try to free
themselves ultimately from what they see
as a continuation of that is of a Soviet
dictatorship under Putin.
>> And what would you say is what they're
looking for from the rest of Europe,
which if President Putin, if President
Trump does wash his hands, then it is
going to be the Europeans that are going
to have to move.
>> The Europeans have to supply the
security guarantee. One of the ways that
we see that happening right now is that
Europe is putting money into uh helping
Ukrainian firms produce weapons uh on EU
soil and then to go back to Ukraine. So,
they're building out a robust industrial
complex that's really a commitment to
long-term security. And the next thing
that Ukraine wants is EU membership as
fast as they can get