BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:
The Ukrainian parliament on Monday unveiled a draft law to impose new sanctions on Russia, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
The bill, which was submitted by President Volodymyr Zelensky, envisages 10 new restrictive measures to be introduced against Russia for the next ten years.
In particular, the draft law stipulates a ban on transferring funds from Ukraine to Russia-related individuals and legal entities. Besides, it prohibits Russia-linked individuals from participating in the privatization and lease of Ukrainian state property and purchasing land plots in Ukraine.
The bill also proposes to ban Russian and Russia-linked ships and planes from entering Ukraine, among other measures.
- -- -
Ukraine and Russia have exchanged accusations over a strike on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP), which is one of the largest atomic power complexes in Europe and generates a quarter of Ukraine's total electricity.
The Russian defense ministry said Monday that Ukraine's shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP was an act of "nuclear terrorism."
As a result of the strike, Ukrainian forces damaged a high-voltage line, which supplied electricity to the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, it said in a statement.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the shelling of the nuclear plant's territory by the Ukrainian forces was "extremely dangerous," adding that such actions could lead to "catastrophic consequences" for all of Europe.
Ukraine's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom on Sunday accused Russian forces of shelling the power plant, saying the latest rocket attacks on Saturday hit the area next to the plant's dry storage facility, where 174 containers with spent nuclear fuel were stored in the open air.
- - - -
Efforts to bring Ukrainian grain to international markets via the Black Sea have gone into a higher gear as the inspections of the second caravan of ships off Istanbul were concluded on Sunday.
A team of representatives of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) inspected the three newly arrived ships carrying a total of 58,000 tons of grain.
The Malta-flagged vessel Rojen passed through the Bosphorus Strait for Britain on Sunday after it had received the clearance to go. The passages of the Turkish-flagged Polarnet to a Türkiye's north-western port and the Panama-flagged Navistar to Ireland are expected to be held later.
- - - -
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced Monday that the United States will provide Ukraine with 1 billion U.S. dollars worth of additional security assistance, the largest one-time weapons package since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.
According to a statement by the Department of Defense, the package included additional munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 75,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery ammunition, 20 120 mm mortar systems and 20,000 rounds of 120 mm mortar ammunition, as well as munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System.
Washington will also deliver to Kiev 1,000 Javelins, hundreds of AT4 anti-armor systems, 50 armored medical treatment vehicles, anti-personnel munitions, explosives, demolition munitions and demolition equipment, the statement said. ■
