Analysis: Threat of nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine adds to global energy chaos
Few countries understand the risks posed by nuclear energy like Ukraine. Just a couple of hours’ drive from Kyiv is the now-decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, the site of perhaps the worst-ever nuclear accident and certainly the most notorious.
Yet despite the Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine never gave up on nuclear energy. The country has four separate nuclear power plants operating 15 different reactors. It is one of the most nuclear-reliant countries on earth. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, these plants provided 51 percent of Ukraine’s electricity in 2020 — a vital source for a middle-income country.
Read the full analysis here.
Few countries understand the risks posed by nuclear energy like Ukraine. Just a couple of hours’ drive from Kyiv is the now-decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, the site of perhaps the worst-ever nuclear accident and certainly the most notorious.
Yet despite the Chernobyl disaster, Ukraine never gave up on nuclear energy. The country has four separate nuclear power plants operating 15 different reactors. It is one of the most nuclear-reliant countries on earth. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, these plants provided 51 percent of Ukraine’s electricity in 2020 — a vital source for a middle-income country.
Read the full analysis here.
What to know about Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Electricity was restored to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine on Friday, a day after the facility was cut off from Ukraine’s electricity grid, causing a large-scale power outage.
Emergency backup systems prevented a “radiation disaster,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, but the incident fueled global anxiety over the safety of the plant as Russia and Ukraine continue to accuse each other of firing at the site.
The U.N. Security Council held emergency meetings this week to address the risks of fighting around the plant. Diplomats, world leaders and even Pope Francis have called for an end to hostilities to avert nuclear disaster.
Read the full story here.
Electricity was restored to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine on Friday, a day after the facility was cut off from Ukraine’s electricity grid, causing a large-scale power outage.
Emergency backup systems prevented a “radiation disaster,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, but the incident fueled global anxiety over the safety of the plant as Russia and Ukraine continue to accuse each other of firing at the site.
The U.N. Security Council held emergency meetings this week to address the risks of fighting around the plant. Diplomats, world leaders and even Pope Francis have called for an end to hostilities to avert nuclear disaster.
Read the full story here.
Here is the lastest from Ukraine.
- The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been reconnected to the national electricity grid, Ukraine’s energy agency, Energoatom, said.
- Fears remain about a possible radiation leak at the site.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency chief says his team of experts will visit the site in the coming days.
- Russia is using 21 sites in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, to detain, interrogate and process prisoners of war and civilians in so-called “filtration camps,” a report by Yale University and the State Department found.
- Russian claims of a military slowdown are “almost certainly deliberate misinformation,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday in a daily briefing.
More live updates here.
- The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been reconnected to the national electricity grid, Ukraine’s energy agency, Energoatom, said.
- Fears remain about a possible radiation leak at the site.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency chief says his team of experts will visit the site in the coming days.
- Russia is using 21 sites in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, to detain, interrogate and process prisoners of war and civilians in so-called “filtration camps,” a report by Yale University and the State Department found.
- Russian claims of a military slowdown are “almost certainly deliberate misinformation,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday in a daily briefing.
More live updates here.
Restored power at Ukraine nuclear plant paves way for U.N. visit
Workers at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant reconnected it to the country’s electricity grid on Friday, restoring a flow of electricity to neighboring cities and paving the way for a visit next week by the United Nation’s atomic watchdog.
The repairs to restore energy transmission at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant eased fears, at least temporarily, of a potentially disastrous breakdown that experts said could result from a prolonged disruption. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that emergency generators were needed to maintain operation of the plant’s crucial functions while the power station was temporarily cut off from the grid.
The giant nuclear plant has become a source of acute worry over a potential civilian disaster but also a pawn in the military conflict, a six-month war in which Russia is seeking to seize Ukrainian land.
Read the full story here.
Workers at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant reconnected it to the country’s electricity grid on Friday, restoring a flow of electricity to neighboring cities and paving the way for a visit next week by the United Nation’s atomic watchdog.
The repairs to restore energy transmission at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant eased fears, at least temporarily, of a potentially disastrous breakdown that experts said could result from a prolonged disruption. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that emergency generators were needed to maintain operation of the plant’s crucial functions while the power station was temporarily cut off from the grid.
The giant nuclear plant has become a source of acute worry over a potential civilian disaster but also a pawn in the military conflict, a six-month war in which Russia is seeking to seize Ukrainian land.
Read the full story here.
Facebook, Twitter dismantle a U.S. influence campaign about Ukraine
Facebook and Twitter disrupted a web of accounts that were covertly seeking to influence users in the Middle East and Asia with pro-Western perspectives about international politics, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a new report from social media analytics firm Graphika and Stanford University.
The covert influence operation used accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media giants to promote narratives supporting the interests of the United States and its allies while opposing countries including Russia, China and Iran, according to the report.
Covert influence campaigns run out of Russia and Iran repeatedly have been targeted by social media platforms over the years. This crackdown is the rare instance in which a U.S.-sponsored campaign targeting foreign audiences was found to violate the companies’ rules.
Read the full story here.
Facebook and Twitter disrupted a web of accounts that were covertly seeking to influence users in the Middle East and Asia with pro-Western perspectives about international politics, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a new report from social media analytics firm Graphika and Stanford University.
The covert influence operation used accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media giants to promote narratives supporting the interests of the United States and its allies while opposing countries including Russia, China and Iran, according to the report.
Covert influence campaigns run out of Russia and Iran repeatedly have been targeted by social media platforms over the years. This crackdown is the rare instance in which a U.S.-sponsored campaign targeting foreign audiences was found to violate the companies’ rules.
Read the full story here.
A Russian soldier’s journal: ‘I will not participate in this madness’
RIGA, Latvia — Russian paratrooper Pavel Filatyev spent more than a month fighting in Ukraine after his poorly equipped unit was ordered to march from its base in Crimea for what commanders called a routine exercise.
In early April, the 34-year-old Filatyev was evacuated after being wounded. Over the next five weeks, deeply troubled by the devastation caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion, he wrote down his recollections in hopes that telling his country the truth about the war could help stop it.
His damning 141-page journal, posted this month on Vkontakte, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, is the most detailed day-by-day account to date of the attacks on Kherson and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine as seen through the eyes of a Russian soldier.
Read the full story here.
RIGA, Latvia — Russian paratrooper Pavel Filatyev spent more than a month fighting in Ukraine after his poorly equipped unit was ordered to march from its base in Crimea for what commanders called a routine exercise.
In early April, the 34-year-old Filatyev was evacuated after being wounded. Over the next five weeks, deeply troubled by the devastation caused by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion, he wrote down his recollections in hopes that telling his country the truth about the war could help stop it.
His damning 141-page journal, posted this month on Vkontakte, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, is the most detailed day-by-day account to date of the attacks on Kherson and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine as seen through the eyes of a Russian soldier.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of fresh shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, just two days after the plant was cut off from Ukraine’s electricity, causing a massive power outage and prompting international fears of a radiation disaster, before backup diesel generators kicked in.
Inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog are expected to visit the plant next week.
Read the full story here.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of fresh shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, just two days after the plant was cut off from Ukraine’s electricity, causing a massive power outage and prompting international fears of a radiation disaster, before backup diesel generators kicked in.
Inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog are expected to visit the plant next week.
Read the full story here.
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A Chernobyl tour group secretly helped track Russia’s invasion
CHERNOBYL — At home in Kyiv, Yaroslav Yemelianenko was glued to a secret live stream of the gate to Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. In disbelief, he watched as Russian tanks rolled by the yellow tourist information center for his company, Chernobyl Tour, and drove south toward the Ukrainian capital.
It was hours into the first day of the war, Feb. 24. Publicly, Ukraine’s leaders said Russian troops had not yet crossed there.
Elsewhere in Kyiv, Chernobyl Tour guide coordinator Kateryna Aslamova watched the same scene unfold in shock.
Chernobyl Tour had a small, battery-operated camera perched by the checkpoint into the zone that Yemelianenko and Aslamova could remotely access. It was there to monitor their booth. But the day of the invasion, they said, it provided early information about Russia’s movement of troops through Belarus and past Chernobyl as Moscow began its attempt to take Kyiv.
Read the full story here.
CHERNOBYL — At home in Kyiv, Yaroslav Yemelianenko was glued to a secret live stream of the gate to Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. In disbelief, he watched as Russian tanks rolled by the yellow tourist information center for his company, Chernobyl Tour, and drove south toward the Ukrainian capital.
It was hours into the first day of the war, Feb. 24. Publicly, Ukraine’s leaders said Russian troops had not yet crossed there.
Elsewhere in Kyiv, Chernobyl Tour guide coordinator Kateryna Aslamova watched the same scene unfold in shock.
Chernobyl Tour had a small, battery-operated camera perched by the checkpoint into the zone that Yemelianenko and Aslamova could remotely access. It was there to monitor their booth. But the day of the invasion, they said, it provided early information about Russia’s movement of troops through Belarus and past Chernobyl as Moscow began its attempt to take Kyiv.
Read the full story here.
Neither snow, nor sleet, nor war: Ukraine mail carriers carry on
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — First came the boom. Then the air raid siren.
“Turn off the machines! Turn off the machines!” yelled a mail sorter.
Moments before, workers in this southern Ukrainian city at the regional headquarters of Ukraine’s national postal service, Ukrposhta, had been absorbed in their early-morning shift: taking packages of varying shapes and sizes from a conveyor belt and distributing them according to their final destinations.
Now, they scrambled to safety as the sound of the explosions grew louder. “It’s coming closer and closer!” yelled an employee, huddled in an entranceway with a group of colleagues.
Forty-five minutes later, the all-clear was given. Slightly behind schedule — time they would make up in short order — the sorting facility’s roughly 45 employees returned to work.
Read the full story here.
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — First came the boom. Then the air raid siren.
“Turn off the machines! Turn off the machines!” yelled a mail sorter.
Moments before, workers in this southern Ukrainian city at the regional headquarters of Ukraine’s national postal service, Ukrposhta, had been absorbed in their early-morning shift: taking packages of varying shapes and sizes from a conveyor belt and distributing them according to their final destinations.
Now, they scrambled to safety as the sound of the explosions grew louder. “It’s coming closer and closer!” yelled an employee, huddled in an entranceway with a group of colleagues.
Forty-five minutes later, the all-clear was given. Slightly behind schedule — time they would make up in short order — the sorting facility’s roughly 45 employees returned to work.
Read the full story here.
The story of little Liza, killed in her stroller by a Russian missile
Four-year-old Elizaveta Dmytrieva grinned as she pushed her stroller along the street in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. It was nearly five months into the war, but the city where her family had fled from Kyiv seemed safe enough. Her mother took an Instagram video as “Liza,” who was born with Down syndrome, led the way in a moment of delighted independence.
Barely an hour later, the little girl was dead, her mother severely injured. And the image of her black and pink stroller, flipped on its side and spattered with blood, would become symbolic of the gruesome toll Russia’s invasion has inflicted on even the youngest Ukrainians.
What Iryna Dmytrieva remembers, reliving the horror of that July morning in her first interview since leaving the hospital, is a deafening noise overhead that she thought was a plane. She looked up to see a “massive” missile and immediately crouched down to try to shield her child.
Read the full story here.
Four-year-old Elizaveta Dmytrieva grinned as she pushed her stroller along the street in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. It was nearly five months into the war, but the city where her family had fled from Kyiv seemed safe enough. Her mother took an Instagram video as “Liza,” who was born with Down syndrome, led the way in a moment of delighted independence.
Barely an hour later, the little girl was dead, her mother severely injured. And the image of her black and pink stroller, flipped on its side and spattered with blood, would become symbolic of the gruesome toll Russia’s invasion has inflicted on even the youngest Ukrainians.
What Iryna Dmytrieva remembers, reliving the horror of that July morning in her first interview since leaving the hospital, is a deafening noise overhead that she thought was a plane. She looked up to see a “massive” missile and immediately crouched down to try to shield her child.
Read the full story here.
U.N. nuclear agency heads to Zaporizhzhia as attacks raise fear of disaster
A “support and assistance mission” from the International Atomic Energy Agency is “on its way” to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, the head of the organization said, as strikes near the facility continued into Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the attacks, which have elicited warnings in recent weeks of a possible catastrophe at Europe’s biggest nuclear facility.
The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia, known as ISAMZ, will be at the plant “later this week,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi tweeted Monday. He made the announcement after weeks of complex negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations-linked agency to allow experts into the facility, which is operated by Ukrainian workers but occupied by Russian forces.
Read the full story here.
A “support and assistance mission” from the International Atomic Energy Agency is “on its way” to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, the head of the organization said, as strikes near the facility continued into Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the attacks, which have elicited warnings in recent weeks of a possible catastrophe at Europe’s biggest nuclear facility.
The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia, known as ISAMZ, will be at the plant “later this week,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi tweeted Monday. He made the announcement after weeks of complex negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations-linked agency to allow experts into the facility, which is operated by Ukrainian workers but occupied by Russian forces.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine.
- IAEA inspectors are headed to Zaporizhzhia after complex negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations-linked agency amid rising international concern that strikes around the plant could cause a nuclear accident.
- Kyiv expects the mission to find that Russia is violating “nuclear safety protocols” at the plant, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday during a news conference in Stockholm.
- Ukrainian officials reported more strikes around the Zaporizhzhia plant.
- Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced an update in its investigation into the killing of Daria Dugina.
More live updates here.
- IAEA inspectors are headed to Zaporizhzhia after complex negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations-linked agency amid rising international concern that strikes around the plant could cause a nuclear accident.
- Kyiv expects the mission to find that Russia is violating “nuclear safety protocols” at the plant, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday during a news conference in Stockholm.
- Ukrainian officials reported more strikes around the Zaporizhzhia plant.
- Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced an update in its investigation into the killing of Daria Dugina.
More live updates here.