UK arrests TWO prominent anti-genocide journalists under ‘anti-terrorism’ laws, as West ramps up attacks on dissenters
Human rights activist Sarah Wilkinson arrested by UK police
Her arrest follows the detention of Syrian-British journalist Richard Medhurst in London and Telegram founder Pavel Durov in Paris
News Desk, AUG 29, 2024, https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26634
British human rights activist and social media influencer Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by UK police on 29 August, reportedly over “content she posted online.”
“The police came to her house just before 7.30am. [Twelve] of them in total, some of them in plain clothes from the counter-terrorism police. They said she was under arrest for ‘content that she has posted online.’ Her house is being raided, and they have seized all her electronic devices,” Jack Wilkinson is quoted as saying by the social media account Suppressed News.
“The pro-genocide UK regime has arrested [MENAUncensored’s] roving reporter and Human Rights Activist Sarah Wilkinson for supporting the Palestinian resistance and relaying what is really happening in Gaza and the West Bank to the world,” MENA Uncensored announced via social media, alleging Wilkinson was accused of supporting “terrorism.”
UK police did not issue a statement about Wilkinson’s arrest at the time of publication.
The British activist and reporter has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Earlier this year, she took part in the “Freedom Flotilla Coalition,” an international initiative that tried to deliver humanitarian aid directly into Gaza.
Wilkinson’s arrest comes two weeks after Syrian-British journalist Richard Medhurst was detained and questioned by UK police upon his arrival at Heathrow Airport under the Terrorism Act, Section 12.
“I believe I’m the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act. I feel that this is a political persecution and hampers my ability to work as a journalist,” Medhurst explained.
Other British journalists who have reported critically on Israeli, UK, and US foreign policy have also been detained and harassed upon returning to their home country, including The Cradle contributor Kit Klarenberg and Vanessa Beeley.
Last week, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris and faces being indicted on 12 different charges, including refusing to “share information or documents with investigators when required by law” and “complicity in managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organized group.”
Durov’s messaging app has played a significant role in the ongoing information war surrounding the genocide in Gaza. Supporters of the Palestinians have been able to use the app to freely share information exposing ongoing Israeli war crimes while highlighting the efforts of Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen, and Iran to resist Israel.
It just seems crazy what is happening. It reminds me of the Birmingham six. The fact that traditional UK media is ignoring both Medhurst and Wilkinson is shocking.
Ukrainian defense chief visits Pentagon
“Ukraine has been given carte blanche for operations in Russian regions. “
https://www.rt.com/news/603337-ukraine-defense-minister-meets-austin/ 1 Sept 24
Politico reported earlier that Rustem Umerov would try to persuade the US to lift its restrictions on long-range strikes against Russia
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss additional military aid. The visit came amid renewed requests by Kiev for Washington to lift its restrictions on the use of US-supplied weapons for long-range strikes deep inside Russia.
Earlier this week, Politico claimed, citing anonymous sources, that Umerov and Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff Andrey Yermak would attempt to persuade their American backers to change their minds.
On Friday, the Pentagon’s Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh announced that “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III held bilateral talks with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov today regarding Ukraine’s ongoing operations [and] security assistance priorities.”
The latter include air defense systems, artillery and armored vehicles needed to help Ukraine “build additional combat power.”
Another topic high on the officials’ agenda was the upcoming meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on September 6. The gathering will see more than 50 of the countries which support Kiev congregate in Ramstein, Germany to deliberate over plans for more military supplies for Ukraine, in order to cover both its immediate and long-term needs.
Austin pledged to “continue to build on the strategic partnership between” the US and Ukraine, Singh concluded.
On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Major-General Patrick Ryder clarified that Washington’s “policy has not changed,” meaning that Ukraine is allowed to use US-supplied weapons to defend against cross-border attacks, but not for “deep strikes” into what the US recognizes as Russian territory.
Meanwhile, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that Washington “will keep the conversations with the Ukrainians going [on the issue], but we are going to keep them private.”
That same day, Zelensky insisted that “there should be no restrictions on the range of weapons for Ukraine.”
Commenting on Kirby’s statement on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that it indicated that “Ukraine has been given carte blanche for operations in Russian regions.”
“The administration of [US President] Joe Biden is obviously getting ready to make new concessions to Zelensky and give him a free hand to use virtually any type of American weapons, including [for attacks] deep into Russian territory,” the diplomat alleged, as quoted by RIA Novosti.
Her remarks echoed those made on Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who insisted that the “West does not want to avoid escalation.”
The minister warned that Kiev’s backers would be “playing with fire” if they were to allow Ukraine to use their weapons to conduct long-range strikes deep inside Russia.
UK unveils GBP 5.5bn subsidy plan for 3.2 GW nuclear plant
The UK government has approved a GBP 5.5bn subsidy scheme aimed at getting the planned 3.2 GW Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England to a final investment decision (FID) later this year.
Reporting by: Kelly Paul, 30 Aug 2024 ,
https://montelnews.com/news/4f3631b9-b370-4dda-a878-61850539b094/uk-unveils-gbp-55bn-subsidy-plan-for-32-gw-nuclear-plant
The so-called Sizewell C Development Expenditure (Devex) Scheme will enable the government to increase equity injections into the project, giving it greater flexibility to cover development costs up to and including an FID, it said in a statement on Friday.
Funding for the Devex scheme will be subject to the Labour government’s forthcoming spending review.
The UK is targeting 50 GW of nuclear capacity by 2050 as part of its plans for energy security. Currently, the country’s eight nuclear power sites have a total combined capacity of about 6.5 GW.
The government is seeking private investors for Sizewell C via a regulated asset base (RAB) financing mechanism.
Sizewell C received a nuclear site licence from the country’s Office for Nuclear Regulation in May.
White elephant?
However, in the wake of today’s announcement, campaign group Stop Sizewell C questioned where the money was going to come from.
“Sizewell C has already chewed through GBP 2.5bn and now we learn that there is the potential for a staggering GBP 5.5bn more of our taxpayers’ money to be thrown at this white elephant,” it said in a statement.
“Labour complained about a black hole in the country’s finances, yet now they are proposing to dig still further. Where would this cash come from?”
Acid discharge and risk assessment shortfall at Cheshire nuclear-site
Companies on a nuclear site were served improvement notices following an
acid leak and a risk assessment shortfall. Watchdog, the Office for Nuclear
Regulation (ONR), told a tenant and contractor on the Urenco UK site they
must improve the safety of its operations.
It follows two separate and
unconnected issues on the site in Capenhurst, near Ellesmere Port, in May
and July which were investigated by ONR inspectors. The first improvement
notice was issued to Urenco ChemPlants, a tenant organisation on the site,
after acid was discharged from a pipework leak at the Tails Management
Facility in May.
Liverpool Echo 30th Aug 2024
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/toxic-acid-leak-nuclear-site-29831937
UK government’s new scheme to subsidise Sizewell nuclear project with support up to £5.5 billion !
On 30 August 2024, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
published details of a new subsidy scheme – the Sizewell C Devex Scheme –
to enable continued support to the development of the proposed new nuclear
power plant Sizewell C (SZC) to the point of a Final Investment Decision
(FID) and thereby ultimately reach operation.
This follows the Competition
and Markets Authority’s consideration of DESNZ’s assessment of the Devex
Scheme’s compliance with the requirements under the Subsidy Control Act
2022 earlier this year. More specifically, this Devex Scheme will provide
the government with greater flexibility to cover development expenditure
costs up to and including FID, subject to appropriate Value for Money (VfM)
assessments and approvals at the relevant time.
The total value of support
allowed by the scheme is £5.5 billion. Further details of the Devex Scheme,
and of investments made under the scheme, will be reported on the relevant
page of the subsidies database.
DESNZ 30th Aug 2024
Pentagon rejects Zelensky’s latest weapons plea
“There should be no restrictions on the range of weapons for Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Monday. “Defenders of life should face no restrictions on weapons.”
https://www.rt.com/news/603168-ukraine-weapons-restriction-change/ 27 Aug 24
Zelensky claimed these restrictions hampered his military in countering the Russian operation north of Kharkov in May and demanded that they be lifted entirely. Washington responded by allowing “counter fires” against Russian forces across the border. In practice, Ukrainian forces have used their US-provided HIMARS rocket launchers to strike towns, bridges and roads instead.
The Ukrainian leader has once again demanded unrestricted use of US-supplied missiles.
Washington’s policy on Kiev’s use of American weapons against Russia remains unchanged, the US Department of Defense has said. The statement came after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky renewed his demands that all restrictions on Western hardware be lifted.
The limitations were put in place to allow the US and its allies to claim they were not directly involved in the conflict with Russia, yet still send Kiev billions of dollars worth of arms, ammunition, equipment, and cash.
“Our policy has not changed,” Pentagon spokesman Major-General Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday, explaining that Ukraine is allowed to use US-supplied weapons to defend from cross-border attacks but not for “deep strikes” into Russian territory.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also told reporters on Monday that there were “no changes” to the policy with regard to the restrictions.
The US has already relaxed its policy from the initial set of restrictions, which only allowed Kiev to strike Russian territory Ukraine claimed as its own – from Crimea to Zaporozhye, Kherson, and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
Zelensky claimed these restrictions hampered his military in countering the Russian operation north of Kharkov in May and demanded that they be lifted entirely. Washington responded by allowing “counter fires” against Russian forces across the border. In practice, Ukrainian forces have used their US-provided HIMARS rocket launchers to strike towns, bridges and roads instead.
“There should be no restrictions on the range of weapons for Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Monday. “Defenders of life should face no restrictions on weapons.”
His chief of staff Andrey Yermak and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov are scheduled to visit Washington later this week and present a list of targets Kiev wishes to strike, Politico reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources. Yermak was behind the initial push to relax the restrictions in May.
China, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia are “worried that the West will continue to relax the conditions for using supplied weapons to attack Russia’s homeland,” Beijing’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, said on Tuesday.
The current US government drew the line on deep strikes into Russia after one of its ATACMS rockets armed with a cluster warhead struck a Crimean beach in early June. Moscow blamed Washington for the carnage and suggested it might arm “states and entities” around the world hostile to the US in response.
Labour Government must give ‘absolute commitment’ to nuclear test veterans
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities have called on the new Labour
Government to give an ‘absolute commitment’ to righting the injustice
and recompensing the suffering of British nuclear test veteran community
which has lasted for over seventy years.
NFLA 29th Aug 2024
Lakenheath Alliance for Peace (LAP) will have an ongoing presence at American air force base.
Lakenheath Alliance for Peace / NFLAs Joint Media Release – Watching
Lakenheath. Following the successful two-week peace walk and camp in July,
Lakenheath Alliance for Peace (LAP) will have an ongoing presence at USAF
Lakenheath.
The base, the largest American air force base in the UK, is
preparing to accept weapons of mass destruction once more. LAP will hold a
further 10-day peace camp next Easter, from 14th-25th April 2025, and
monthly vigils in the meantime, from 12-2 on the last Saturday each month
(except December). The first of these will be on Saturday August 31st, noon
till 2 pm outside the Main Gate to RAF Lakenheath on the A1065. The
location is Brandon Rd, Lakenheath IP27 9PS.
NFLA 28th Aug 2024
Declassified files show NI’s future reformist PM ‘against nuclear plant in Catholic area’
The man who would become Northern Ireland’s key reformist Prime Minister
repeatedly expressed alarm at a plan to build a nuclear reactor in a
Catholic area of Tyrone, a previously secret file from the old Stormont
government reveals.
In 1950s Northern Ireland, Terence O’Neill was
Minister of Home Affairs and then Finance Minister at a time when the
unionist administration was adapting to life after the Second World War,
the new challenges of the Cold War, the extension of Clement Atlee’s
welfare reforms across the Irish Sea and the IRA border campaign.
Belfast Telegraph 28th Aug 2024
Fears of ‘serious consequences’ if ‘extremely exposed’ Russian nuclear plant is attacked.
Gergana Krasteva Aug 28, 2024, https://metro.co.uk/2024/08/27/extremely-exposed-russian-nuclear-plant-protected-just-normal-roof-21499930/
Fears of a nuclear accident are rising in western Russia weeks after Ukraine began its incursion there.
Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed a power plant came under fire, and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog chief warned of heightened risk at the facility in the Kursk region.
International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi, who inspected the site outside the town of Kurchatov, said the reactor is ‘extremely exposed’ to attack and the consequences of a drone strike on the facility would be ‘extremely serious’.
He said the RBMK-type facility – the same model as Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant – is protected by ‘just a normal roof’.
Ukrainian troops currently control territory which is ‘the size of Los Angeles’ around the nuclear plant.
The site lacks the containment dome and protective structure typical of modern power plants.
‘The core of the reactor containing nuclear material is protected just by a normal roof,’ Grossi told a news conference earlier today.
‘This makes it extremely exposed and fragile, for example, to an artillery impact or a drone or a missile.
‘This is like the building across the street, all right? With all this nuclear material.’
Grossi continued: ‘There is no specific protection. And this is very, very important. If there is an impact on the core, the material is there and the consequences could be extremely serious.’
He added that during his visit of the plant he saw evidence of drone strikes in the area.
The Kremlin has accused Ukrainian forces of attacking the area around the plant, but the army has denied this.
‘I was informed about the impact of the drones. I was shown some remnants of them and signs of the impact they had,’ Grossi said, without actually saying who was responsible.
Despite the ongoing fighting, the nuclear facility is operating in ‘close to normal conditions’.
At the same time, the IAEA is monitoring the Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Grossi will travel to Ukraine next week to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky about the situation at the facility.
The operation in Kursk, the largest incursion into Russia since World War II, has resulted in the occupation of about 500 square miles.
Putin has sent reinforcements into the region but it was not clear to what extent these movements might be weakening his position in eastern Ukraine, where his soldiers were making slow advances in efforts to gain ground in Kharkiv region.
Russia’s defence ministry said that Ukraine has suffered heavy casualties in Kursk – some 6,600 troops either killed or injured – and that more than 70 tanks have been destroyed along with scores of armoured vehicles.
Tangible Panic Grows in Ukraine Amid Donbass-front Collapse
Each paragraph below is illustrated on the original, with explanatory sources – quotes, videos, maps )
Simplicius, Aug 29, 2024 https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-82824-tangible-panic-grows?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1351274&post_id=148194067&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ln98x&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email—
Ukraine is slowly descending into a panic regarding the collapse of the Donbass front, and in fact that collapse is seemingly accelerating. Some semblance of a normalcy bias continues to grip the more obdurate observers, but the keen-eyed are seeing the writing on the wall.
Head of the top Ukrainian channel “Deepstate UA”—which is basically the Ukrainian ‘Rybar’—calls the situation complete chaos:
Arestovich wrote a long post on his official account where he called the situation around Pokrovsk an “operational crisis”.
Rada deputy Goncharenko was beside himself, calling the situation catastrophic. He added that after Pokrovsk, the road to the entire Dnieper will be wide open:
It’s almost pointless even updating the exact captures and advances anymore because right now they’re simply happening so fast that within hours of the Sitrep’s release, the information is already obsolete, and Russians have advanced even more. But suffice it to say, this time there were even several major captures in areas other than Pokrovsk.
Russian forces captured the remainder of Konstantinovka on the Ugledar line:
Ugledar is now becoming in danger of being surrounded for the AFU in the near future.
Then Russians captured most of Grodovka, after having just entered it days ago:
At this pace, it will be captured in the next day or two it seems.
After capturing New York, they’ve already entered the next settlement north of it, Nelipovka. And nearby, they’ve advanced deeper into Toretsk, gaining hundreds of meters inside the important city.
As of now, they’re mere kilometers from Pokrovsk, and right at the outskirts of its neighboring city of Mirnograd:
Nearby, they’ve now entered Selidov for the first time, and are already working through it:
Another Ukrainian account:
“Battles for Selidove have begun! The enemy is actively pushing our defenses on the eastern outskirts of the city, the fighting continues in the area of the stadium and the park, slowly moving towards the high-rises, also the podars are trying to level the front and are starting to press from Mykhailivka to the south and push from the highway in the east. The same squeeze situation occurred in New York.”
In light of the ongoing collapse, the potential for dangerous escalation rises because Zelensky gets increasingly desperate to engineer some kind of black swan event that could overturn the table and upend events.
With this in mind there continues to be a slew of rumors for what Zelensky’s next move might be. For instance, there continue to be reports of AFU preparations on the Zaporozhye front:
There is some credence to the above given that in the past few days the Russian airforce has carried out at least 2 separate air strikes along the Black Sea toward Odessa—one was at Snake Island, and another at oil platforms just east of there which Ukrainian GUR was using to stage landings toward Crimea.
This is roughly how Zelensky’s potential plan is meant to play out:
A simultaneous mass landing by special forces around the Kinburn Spit area to harass the ‘rears’ of Russia’s Dnieper grouping, while other amphibious forces directly strike at the Energodar plant and then the main logistics force tries to wrap around from Zaporozhye city along the river to connect with them.
No one quite knows why this happened, but there are a few potential conjectures:
- Lukashenko foresees Ukraine attempting to create some provocation as part of the earlier mentioned ‘black swan’ to involve NATO forces, and is taking appropriate deterrence measures
- Lukashenko is trying to help Russian troops by pinning or ‘fixing’ Ukrainian border guards along the Belarus border, given that Ukraine was said to have removed many of the border forces to use them in Kursk
- Least likely: Russia and Belarus plan some kind of joint final decapitation invasion to finish off the war
Most likely it’s a combination of 1 and 2.
Partly related to the heightening tensions, we now have a new very interesting statement by Lavrov which appears to vindicate my recent reporting about potential changes to the Russian nuclear doctrine, given the West’s unceasing escalations against Russia’s red lines.
There’s an undercurrent of tension now running through events as other somewhat peculiar happenings have gone on. For instance, Belarus suddenly moved a lot of forces to the Ukrainian border again, and for the first time they appear to have a tactical symbol of a ‘B’ on them, as if they are preparing for direct combat:
Zelensky signs law to ban Ukraine’s largest church
https://www.rt.com/russia/603017-zelensky-signs-orthodox-church-law/ 28 Aug 24
The bill outlaws any religious organizations considered to have ties to Moscow
Vladimir Zelensky has signed a law that calls for the banning of any religious group suspected of having ties to Russia. It threatens to effectively shut down the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) – the largest faith-based organization in the country.
The Ukrainian parliament introduced the legislation earlier this week; it is expected to take effect in 30 days. After that, all the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and all affiliated religious organizations will be outlawed.
The UOC will have nine months to sever all ties with the ROC, despite the Ukrainian church having already declared full autonomy from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022, following the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.
After signing the legislation on Saturday, the country’s Independence Day, Zelensky released a video address stating that “Ukrainian Orthodoxy is today taking a step towards liberation from Moscow’s devils.”
Moscow has condemned Ukraine’s crackdown on religious communities; the Holy Synod of the ROC issued a statement on Thursday comparing the new legislation with Soviet-style repression and other historical persecutions of Christians.
“The purpose of this law is to liquidate [the UOC] and all its communities and to forcibly transfer them to other religious organizations,” the Synod surmised, noting that “hundreds of monasteries, thousands of communities, and millions of Orthodox believers in Ukraine will find themselves outlawed and will lose their property and place of prayer.”
The Synod stated that it would appeal Kiev’s actions with international human rights organizations and call on them to immediately and objectively respond to the “flagrant persecution of believers in Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev responded to the new law by stating that Zelensky has “no religious identity” and describing the crackdown as “full-fledged Satanism,” supported by Ukraine’s Western backers.
“This story will not go unpunished for Ukraine,” Medvedev wrote, stating “the country will be destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah,” referring to the Old Testament story of two cities obliterated by divine intervention for their wickedness. “The demons will inevitably fall,” he continued, adding that their punishment will be “earthly, cruel, painful and will happen soon.”
Religious tensions have plagued the country for a long time, with a number of entities claiming to be the true Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The two main rival factions are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Kiev-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which is considered by the Russian Orthodox Church to be schismatic.
The UOC remains the largest Orthodox church in Ukraine, with more than 8,000 parishes across the country. However, since the 2010s, some of these have been choosing to transfer to the jurisdiction of the OCU under pressure from authorities in Kiev.
Russia says UN watchdog must be ‘more objective’ after trip to nuclear plant near fighting
By Reuters, August 28, 2024
MOSCOW, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Russia said on Wednesday it wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency to take a “more objective and clearer” stance on nuclear safety, a day after the agency head visited a Russian nuclear plant near where Ukraine has mounted an incursion into the country.
Separately, Russia said its forces had defused unexploded U.S.-supplied munitions fired by Ukraine that were shot down just 5 km (3 miles) from the Kursk nuclear plant.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi toured the Kursk facility on Tuesday and warned of the danger of a serious nuclear accident there. He said he had inspected damage from a drone strike last week, which Russia had blamed on Ukraine, but did not say who was responsible.
Russian state news agency RIA quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying in a radio interview that Moscow wanted the IAEA to speak out more clearly on issues of nuclear security, although she denied it was demanding that the agency take a pro-Russian line.
“We see both the assessments and the work of this structure (the IAEA), but each time we want a more objective and clearer expression of the position of this structure,” Zakharova said.
“Not in favour of our country, not in favour of confirming Moscow’s position, but in favour of facts with one specific goal: ensuring safety and preventing the development of a scenario along a catastrophic path, to which the Kyiv regime is pushing everyone.”
The IAEA could not immediately be reached for comment…………………………
Ukraine has not responded to Russian accusations that it attacked the plant near where its forces launched a surprise incursion on Aug. 6 that Russia is still trying to repel. There has been fighting about 40 km (25 miles) from the facility.
Russia’s National Guard said in a statement on Wednesday that its sappers had found a shell from a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket system 5 km from the plant, and a rocket fragment which it said was stuffed with 180 unexploded munitions.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the purported Russian find, and Reuters could not independently verify the location of the video.
Grossi said during his visit that the plant, built to a Soviet design, was especially vulnerable because – unlike most modern nuclear power stations – it lacked a containment dome that might offer protection in the event of a strike by drones, missiles or artillery………………………. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-criticises-un-nuclear-watchdog-after-trip-plant-close-fighting-2024-08-28/
UN fears nuclear incident possible at Russia’s ‘vulnerable’ Kursk plant after drone strikes
International Atomic Energy Agency raises the alarm about the Kursk plant’s vulnerable nuclear reactor as war rages nearby.
August 27, 2024 By Csongor Körömi https://www.politico.eu/article/un-international-atomic-energy-agency-rafael-grossi-nuclear-incident-russia-kursk-plant-drone-strikes-war-in-ukraine/?fbclid=IwY2xjawE7xONleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYsv1ZIaZ4vYeP7K4rKYHQMLy03ZNTz8FBhh11Vv7C3OjzmKz-vJZUlyQA_aem_UFL5Vx9yHAwB2AVR6omFyA
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog chief warned on Tuesday of heightened risk at the nuclear power plant in Kursk, Russia, where Ukraine has been conducting a military counteroffensive.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi led the mission to the nuclear site after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed it came under fire following Ukraine’s incursion into the region. Kyiv has denied accusations that it targeted the plant.
“The danger or the possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here,” Grossi told reporters, according to Reuters. He added that during his visit of the plant he saw evidence of drone strikes in the area.
“I was informed about the impact of the drones. I was shown some of the remnants of them and signs of the impact they had,” Grossi said, without saying who was responsible.
He warned that the nuclear reactor at the Kursk plant doesn’t have a protective dome, unlike most nuclear facilities, making its core very vulnerable to artillery or drone strikes.
“The core of the reactor containing nuclear material is protected just by a normal roof, he said during his visit. “This makes it extremely exposed and fragile, for example, to an artillery impact or a drone or a missile.”
“A nuclear power plant of this type, so close to a point of contact or a military front, is an extremely serious fact that we take very seriously.”
Despite the ongoing conflict, the power station is operating “in very close to normal conditions,” according to Grossi.
“My message is the same for everyone: no nuclear accident can happen. It is our responsibility to make sure of that,” Grossi said at the news conference, adding that the agency won’t take sides in the Russian-Ukrainian war. “This conflict, this war, is not the responsibility of the IAEA.”
The war that reignited following Russia’s all-out military assault on Ukraine, now in its third year, has been fraught with nuclear risks, with numerous instances of nuclear weapon saber-rattling and recklessness near energy-generating nuclear facilities.
After the start of the conflict, Grossi worked to establish five principles to be respected by both Russia and Ukraine to ensure nuclear safety and avert an atomic catastrophe.
Russia captured Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at the start of its invasion and has repeatedly endangered the plant’s safety, drawing condemnation from Grossi.
Grossi will travel to Ukraine next week to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discuss “a number of things,” including the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and the presence of IAEA experts at other sites in Ukraine.
The effects of world’s worst nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the 1980s are still felt to this day. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine were contaminated, and an area of around 30 kilometers around the plant remains essentially uninhabitable. Soviet authorities initially denied the scale of the disaster.
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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