nuclear-news

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Ukrainian revolution has finally resulted in a new phenomenon for the world – civil war in nuclear-weapon state.

Yesterday’s events in Kiev and Ukrainian regions leave no other choice for U.S. and Russia, as the guarantors of territorial integrity and stability of this state, except bringing their troops into the territory of Ukraine. They have no other chance to provide security for the nuclear sites in Ukraine and first of all for the largest in Europe Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant.

Already yesterday extreme right radicals in Kiev started to set fire to the administrative and public buildings with the people inside, as they associated those buildings with the existing power. Moreover, they didn’t let people to leave the burning buildings or put out the fire. At least 2 people died as a result of such actions.

Radicals also started to seize police departments and their arsenal. Unless miracle happens, already today armed hostilities will start in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities.

The civil war in Ukraine has become a reality and firing as well as explosions of nuclear sites is just a question of time. Anyway, Oleg Tyagnibok and Dmitry Yarosh, the real leaders of the revolution, never excluded such possibility from their activity arsenal.

It should be noted that even explosion at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 was rumored to be a diversion of radicals the supporters of which can be seen now raging in Ukraine. USSR authorities didn’t investigate this version so that not to discredit themselves and not to announce that nuclear terrorism became a reality. Today we have a new, more sophisticated reality – civil war in nuclear-weapon state.

The Ukrainian government announced on 21 November that it had decided to stop its preparations to sign an Association Agreement (AA) with the EU. Instead, Yanukovich accepted a $15-billion (€11 billion) Russian bailout.

Following the news that the country’s president Viktor Yanukovich failed to sign the AA at the Vilnius summit on 28-29 November, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets in what is called the EuroMaidan protest, demanding his resignation [read more]. In the meantime, Yanukovich accepted a $15-billion (€11 billion) Russian bailout.

On 18 February at least 26 people died in the worst violence since the EuroMaidan protests started. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich accused pro-European opposition leaders of trying to seize power.

The EU’s 28 foreign ministers will gather in Brussels for an emergency meeting on Thursday (20 February) to discuss possible sanctions against the Ukrainian leadership after at least 26 people were killed in the crackdown against pro-EU protesters in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland were expected in Kyiv on Thursday to assess the situation before the EU meeting and decide whether to impose sanctions, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said

Bulgaria for instance is under Russian pressure regarding several energy projects, including the planned South Stream gas pipeline and a planned nuclear central at Belene. And Hungary has inked a deal with Russia to build two additional nuclear reactors in the country’s only nuclear power station, a project financed by Russia.

Hours after a truce was declared between Ukrainian government forces and opposition protesters, fighting broke out once again Thursday morning in the streets around Kiev’s Independence Square.

Police and demonstrators traded molotov cocktails, and gunshots could be heard. On the hill south of the square, the protest movement’s epicenter also known as the Maidan, the parliament and cabinet buildings were evacuated.

Although the fighting Thursday morning fell short of developing into a full-scale battle, the Health Ministry confirmed five deaths in clashes near government offices. Videos indicated that some protesters have sniper rifles; police were shown shooting automatic weapons. Unofficial reports put the death toll considerably higher.

The Associated Press reported that 18 bodies were laid out on the edge of the protest encampment. Interior Ministry spokesman Serhiy Burlakov told the agency that one policeman was killed and 28 suffered gunshot wounds on Thursday.

Witnesses said they saw 10 bodies at a medical station on Independence Square.

The Kyiv Post reported that about 50 Interior Ministry troops were captured by demonstrators and were taken to the post office, which the opposition controls.

UK Telegraph correspondent Roland Oliphant counts 10 bodies in Independence Square in Kiev, as snipers target protesters in the Ukrainian capital.

Hopes that a fresh truce could end the confrontation in Kiev were dashed on Thursday when at least 21 protesters were killed in the space of a few hours.

The Telegraph saw ten corpses laid out on the pavement beneath the awning of a cafe on the northern edge of Independence Square, where thousands of demonstrators are still camped.

At least three of the bodies displayed single bullet wounds to the heads.

The deaths come as a new wave of violence erupted just hours after the country’s embattled president and the opposition leaders, who are demanding his resignation, called for a truce and negotiations.

Source: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com
Source: Azerbaijan Business Center, abc.az
Source: EurActiv, http://www.euractiv.com
Source: Telegraph.co.uk, http://www.telegraph.co.uk