Ukraine war: Missiles from Germany, nuclear plant attack, drone strike

Ukraine has sent the German government an official request for deliveries of Taurus air-to-ground cruise missiles with a range of at least 500 km, the German Ministry of Defence told AFP on Saturday.

"We have received a request from the Ukrainian side over the last few days", the spokeswoman said, without giving details of the quantities involved.

It now remains to be seen whether or not Berlin will grant the request, which is likely to spark heated internal debate.

The German government has significantly increased its arms supplies to Kyiv in recent months, but has so far been reticent about providing cruise missiles or support for the Ukrainian air force, such as assistance with the delivery of F-16 fighters.

The Taurus is an air-to-ground cruise missile carried by fighters and developed by the German-Swedish company of the same name. Because of its range, it would be capable of hitting targets a long way behind the current front line in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's military intelligence has claimed, without offering evidence, that Russia is plotting a “large-scale provocation” at a nuclear power plant it occupies in the southeast of the country with the aim of disrupting a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive.

A statement released Friday by the intelligence directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry claimed that Russian forces would strike the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, and then report a radioactive leak in order to trigger an international probe that would pause the hostilities and give the Russian forces the respite they need to regroup ahead of the counteroffensive.

In order to make that happen, Russia “disrupted the rotation of personnel of the permanent monitoring mission” of the U.N.'s