Earthquakes for Ukraine: Dutch gas drilling tests what countries will accept
GRONINGEN, Netherlands — Earthquakes in this velvety green patch of the Dutch countryside cracked homes, made businesses uninhabitable, even broke up marriages. After billions of euros’ worth of damage, and protests that included local farmers rolling into The Hague on tractors, the Dutch government finally agreed to phase out the natural gas drilling that had triggered more than 1,000 temblors since the 1980s.
But now, as Russia cuts gas flows and energy prices soar, Europe is resting a covetous eye on this corner of the Netherlands — where 12th-century churches, rustic farmhouses and storybook villages sit atop the continent’s mother lode, a gas field harboring the equivalent of three years of Russian imports.
The United States and Germany in particular have raised a fraught question: Could the Dutch keep drilling in Groningen for Europe’s greater good?
Read the full story here.
GRONINGEN, Netherlands — Earthquakes in this velvety green patch of the Dutch countryside cracked homes, made businesses uninhabitable, even broke up marriages. After billions of euros’ worth of damage, and protests that included local farmers rolling into The Hague on tractors, the Dutch government finally agreed to phase out the natural gas drilling that had triggered more than 1,000 temblors since the 1980s.
But now, as Russia cuts gas flows and energy prices soar, Europe is resting a covetous eye on this corner of the Netherlands — where 12th-century churches, rustic farmhouses and storybook villages sit atop the continent’s mother lode, a gas field harboring the equivalent of three years of Russian imports.
The United States and Germany in particular have raised a fraught question: Could the Dutch keep drilling in Groningen for Europe’s greater good?
Read the full story here.
Ukrainian farms feed Europe and China. Russia wants to end that.
Destroy a seed, erase a future.
On May 16, 2022, tens of thousands of rare seed samples were destroyed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv’s Yuriev Institute, which houses Ukraine’s National Gene Bank.
The Yuriev Institute has a storied past — its predecessor was founded in 1908, a time when Eurasian grain was feeding the rapidly growing industrial workforce in Western Europe. Located in the university town of Kharkiv, the gene bank had been the home of over 160,000 varieties of plant and crop seeds.
The target was not a coincidence.
The damage inflicted on Ukraine’s National Gene Bank and the loss of valuable seeds were part of a deliberate Russian campaign to harm Ukrainian agriculture, this year and potentially for decades to come.
Read the full story here.
Destroy a seed, erase a future.
On May 16, 2022, tens of thousands of rare seed samples were destroyed in the Russian shelling of Kharkiv’s Yuriev Institute, which houses Ukraine’s National Gene Bank.
The Yuriev Institute has a storied past — its predecessor was founded in 1908, a time when Eurasian grain was feeding the rapidly growing industrial workforce in Western Europe. Located in the university town of Kharkiv, the gene bank had been the home of over 160,000 varieties of plant and crop seeds.
The target was not a coincidence.
The damage inflicted on Ukraine’s National Gene Bank and the loss of valuable seeds were part of a deliberate Russian campaign to harm Ukrainian agriculture, this year and potentially for decades to come.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- “The Ukrainian counteroffensive is making verifiable progress in the south and the east,” according to the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank. ISW analysts said “Ukrainian forces are advancing along several axes” to the west of the Kherson region and “have secured territory” in Donetsk.
- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency left the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Monday, Russian state-owned news outlets reported, citing Russian nuclear power plant operator Rosenergoatom and an expert who traveled with the group. Two representatives of the U.N. nuclear safety agency will remain to monitor the plant, the outlets said.
- Ukraine says it has retaken two villages in the south. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said on social media that a widely shared image of a soldier hoisting the Ukrainian flag atop a building was taken Sunday in the village of Vysokopillya in the Kherson region.
More live updates here.
- “The Ukrainian counteroffensive is making verifiable progress in the south and the east,” according to the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank. ISW analysts said “Ukrainian forces are advancing along several axes” to the west of the Kherson region and “have secured territory” in Donetsk.
- Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency left the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Monday, Russian state-owned news outlets reported, citing Russian nuclear power plant operator Rosenergoatom and an expert who traveled with the group. Two representatives of the U.N. nuclear safety agency will remain to monitor the plant, the outlets said.
- Ukraine says it has retaken two villages in the south. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said on social media that a widely shared image of a soldier hoisting the Ukrainian flag atop a building was taken Sunday in the village of Vysokopillya in the Kherson region.
More live updates here.
Ukrainians line up to donate blood to save ‘soldiers who are fighting for us’
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — Hundreds of civilians and soldiers lined up Saturday in response to calls for blood donations in this southern front-line city holding off Russian forces.
“They said on TV that there was an urgent need for blood today,” said Svitlana Mymokhod, 58, an accountant who began cooking for local army units after the Russian invasion in late February.
When officials pleaded for B-negative donors, Mymokhod’s blood type, it led her to donate for the first time in 20 years, she said as she methodically squeezed a rubber ball while crimson tubes led from her arm.
“We need to give more blood to save the soldiers who are fighting for us.”
Read the full story here.
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — Hundreds of civilians and soldiers lined up Saturday in response to calls for blood donations in this southern front-line city holding off Russian forces.
“They said on TV that there was an urgent need for blood today,” said Svitlana Mymokhod, 58, an accountant who began cooking for local army units after the Russian invasion in late February.
When officials pleaded for B-negative donors, Mymokhod’s blood type, it led her to donate for the first time in 20 years, she said as she methodically squeezed a rubber ball while crimson tubes led from her arm.
“We need to give more blood to save the soldiers who are fighting for us.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The International Atomic Energy Agency will detail its findings on the “safety, security and safeguards” at the Zaporizhzhia plant, controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine. Inspectors have left the site after an IAEA mission that overcame halting negotiations and the risk of artillery fire, with two representatives staying behind to monitor.
- The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its last direct connection to Ukraine’s energy grid after Russian shelling nearby caused a fire, the Ukrainian state company Energoatom said Monday. Russia also accused Ukraine of shelling around the plant. The Post could not confirm either side’s claims.
- The flow of gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not resume until Siemens Energy repairs equipment, the deputy CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom told Reuters.
- Russia is in the process of buying rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, the AP and Reuters reported, citing U.S. intelligence.
More live updates here.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency will detail its findings on the “safety, security and safeguards” at the Zaporizhzhia plant, controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine. Inspectors have left the site after an IAEA mission that overcame halting negotiations and the risk of artillery fire, with two representatives staying behind to monitor.
- The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its last direct connection to Ukraine’s energy grid after Russian shelling nearby caused a fire, the Ukrainian state company Energoatom said Monday. Russia also accused Ukraine of shelling around the plant. The Post could not confirm either side’s claims.
- The flow of gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not resume until Siemens Energy repairs equipment, the deputy CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom told Reuters.
- Russia is in the process of buying rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, the AP and Reuters reported, citing U.S. intelligence.
More live updates here.
Ukraine’s war amputees heal through horse therapy
SUKHODIL, Ukraine — Danylo Ischenko dreams of walking beside his fiancee on their wedding day.
Bolivia, an English racehorse, is helping him get there.
Ischenko, 34, lost his leg to shrapnel from Russian shelling in a village near Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine that changed his life in a fiery flash. The shards sliced into his left leg, which he lost 11 days later. The military sent Ischenko to a rehabilitation center in Lviv, in western Ukraine.
He was referred to a horse farm, where he met Bolivia.
Read the full story here.
SUKHODIL, Ukraine — Danylo Ischenko dreams of walking beside his fiancee on their wedding day.
Bolivia, an English racehorse, is helping him get there.
Ischenko, 34, lost his leg to shrapnel from Russian shelling in a village near Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine that changed his life in a fiery flash. The shards sliced into his left leg, which he lost 11 days later. The military sent Ischenko to a rehabilitation center in Lviv, in western Ukraine.
He was referred to a horse farm, where he met Bolivia.
Read the full story here.
Heat pumps take off in coal-loving Poland amid Ukraine war
WARSAW — A few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Joanna Pandera, a Polish energy expert, removed the gas stovetop from her kitchen and replaced it with an electric range. She signed a contract for an electric heat pump so that she would no longer need Russian natural gas to warm her home through Poland’s long winters.
And she threw a party, cooking borscht and pierogies with Ukrainian refugees to celebrate her home’s newfound energy independence.
“The celebration was that we removed Russian gas,” said Pandera, the director of Forum Energii, a Warsaw-based think tank that advocates for a Polish transition to renewable energy.
Pandera is working to de-Russify the energy flowing into her house, and many Poles, furious with Russia and sympathetic to Ukraine, are doing the same this year.
Read the full story here.
WARSAW — A few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Joanna Pandera, a Polish energy expert, removed the gas stovetop from her kitchen and replaced it with an electric range. She signed a contract for an electric heat pump so that she would no longer need Russian natural gas to warm her home through Poland’s long winters.
And she threw a party, cooking borscht and pierogies with Ukrainian refugees to celebrate her home’s newfound energy independence.
“The celebration was that we removed Russian gas,” said Pandera, the director of Forum Energii, a Warsaw-based think tank that advocates for a Polish transition to renewable energy.
Pandera is working to de-Russify the energy flowing into her house, and many Poles, furious with Russia and sympathetic to Ukraine, are doing the same this year.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The U.N. nuclear watchdog detailed its findings on the “safety, security and safeguards” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine.
- A backup power line linked to the Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected to extinguish a fire but not damaged, the IAEA said.
- The European Commission on Tuesday proposed the full suspension of a visa facilitation accord with Russia, a move aimed at making it more difficult and expensive for Russian tourists to get visas but not banning them completely.
- The Russian Defense Ministry “is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells” from North Korea, according to declassified U.S. intelligence.
- The flow of gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not resume until Siemens Energy repairs equipment, the deputy CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom told Reuters on Tuesday.
More live updates here.
- The U.N. nuclear watchdog detailed its findings on the “safety, security and safeguards” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russian forces in Ukraine.
- A backup power line linked to the Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected to extinguish a fire but not damaged, the IAEA said.
- The European Commission on Tuesday proposed the full suspension of a visa facilitation accord with Russia, a move aimed at making it more difficult and expensive for Russian tourists to get visas but not banning them completely.
- The Russian Defense Ministry “is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells” from North Korea, according to declassified U.S. intelligence.
- The flow of gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not resume until Siemens Energy repairs equipment, the deputy CEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom told Reuters on Tuesday.
More live updates here.
IAEA warns of ‘catastrophic’ threat from shelling in Ukraine nuclear report
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres on Tuesday called on both Russian and Ukrainian forces not to engage in any military activity toward or from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russia, he said, must withdraw “all military personnel and equipment” from the facility, and Ukrainian forces must not “move into it.”
Guterres’s appeal to a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the issue came as the International Atomic Energy Agency called for the creation of a “special safety and security zone” in and around the plant. Without placing blame on either side for shelling the facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the council that the attacks were “simply unacceptable.”
“They are playing with fire,” Grossi said, “and something very, very catastrophic could take place.”
Read the full story here.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres on Tuesday called on both Russian and Ukrainian forces not to engage in any military activity toward or from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russia, he said, must withdraw “all military personnel and equipment” from the facility, and Ukrainian forces must not “move into it.”
Guterres’s appeal to a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the issue came as the International Atomic Energy Agency called for the creation of a “special safety and security zone” in and around the plant. Without placing blame on either side for shelling the facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the council that the attacks were “simply unacceptable.”
“They are playing with fire,” Grossi said, “and something very, very catastrophic could take place.”
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- The International Atomic Energy Agency found extensive damage at the plant and warned of a “catastrophic” threat from shelling. The IAEA called for a “special safety and security zone” in and around the plant, warning in its report from a site visit that shelling continues to pose a threat and has damaged the electricity network and buildings near the reactors.
- IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi called on Russia to withdraw “all military personnel and equipment” from the facility and Ukrainian forces to hold back.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan, Russian state news agencies reported. Putin warned that it’s impossible to isolate Russia, insisting that the West’s sanctions pose a danger for the world, per Reuters.
More live updates here.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency found extensive damage at the plant and warned of a “catastrophic” threat from shelling. The IAEA called for a “special safety and security zone” in and around the plant, warning in its report from a site visit that shelling continues to pose a threat and has damaged the electricity network and buildings near the reactors.
- IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi called on Russia to withdraw “all military personnel and equipment” from the facility and Ukrainian forces to hold back.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan, Russian state news agencies reported. Putin warned that it’s impossible to isolate Russia, insisting that the West’s sanctions pose a danger for the world, per Reuters.
More live updates here.
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Runaway chimpanzee returned to Ukrainian zoo on a bike
A chimpanzee who ran away from a Ukrainian zoo was talked into returning after zookeepers offered her a raincoat, a hug and a bike ride.
Chichi the chimpanzee escaped Monday from Kharkiv’s zoo and roamed the streets of the northeastern Ukrainian city for hours. She kept a distance from keepers who were following her, scampering from a university to a nearby city square, local media reported.
At one point, a zookeeper sat down with Chichi near a park in hopes of persuading her to return. The chimp was hesitant — until it started to rain. She then went to a nearby zookeeper, who helped her put on a yellow raincoat and gave her a cuddle.
Read the full story here.
A chimpanzee who ran away from a Ukrainian zoo was talked into returning after zookeepers offered her a raincoat, a hug and a bike ride.
Chichi the chimpanzee escaped Monday from Kharkiv’s zoo and roamed the streets of the northeastern Ukrainian city for hours. She kept a distance from keepers who were following her, scampering from a university to a nearby city square, local media reported.
At one point, a zookeeper sat down with Chichi near a park in hopes of persuading her to return. The chimp was hesitant — until it started to rain. She then went to a nearby zookeeper, who helped her put on a yellow raincoat and gave her a cuddle.
Read the full story here.
Russians back war in Ukraine, but report finds notable opposition
Russian public support for the war against Ukraine, while sky-high, is less solid than statistics generally suggest, according to an analysis by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has fallen in recent months with some supporters saying they are ambivalent, anxious, shocked or fearful about the ongoing military campaign.
About 20 percent of respondents said they did not support the war, up from 14 percent in March, the analysis found. About 75 percent said they supported the war, compared with 81 percent in March.
Still, as Russians’ interest in the war wanes, many see the conflict simply as a storm to be weathered before life returns to normal, the Carnegie report found.
Read the full story here.
Russian public support for the war against Ukraine, while sky-high, is less solid than statistics generally suggest, according to an analysis by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has fallen in recent months with some supporters saying they are ambivalent, anxious, shocked or fearful about the ongoing military campaign.
About 20 percent of respondents said they did not support the war, up from 14 percent in March, the analysis found. About 75 percent said they supported the war, compared with 81 percent in March.
Still, as Russians’ interest in the war wanes, many see the conflict simply as a storm to be weathered before life returns to normal, the Carnegie report found.
Read the full story here.
Here is the latest from Ukraine:
- General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s top military official, warned of the “possibility of direct involvement of the world’s leading powers in a ‘limited’ nuclear conflict” with Russia, in a wide-ranging article published by Ukraine’s state-run media platform, Ukrinform.
- Russia must halt so-called “filtration operations,” in Ukraine, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new report this week that it found extensive damage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan next week, Russian state news agencies reported.
More live updates here.
- General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s top military official, warned of the “possibility of direct involvement of the world’s leading powers in a ‘limited’ nuclear conflict” with Russia, in a wide-ranging article published by Ukraine’s state-run media platform, Ukrinform.
- Russia must halt so-called “filtration operations,” in Ukraine, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Wednesday.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new report this week that it found extensive damage at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan next week, Russian state news agencies reported.
More live updates here.