Smarter News Now
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact Us
  • Email Whitelisting
No Result
View All Result
  • Top News
  • Economy News
  • Forex News
  • Investing News
  • Stock News
  • Politics News
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Top News
  • Economy News
  • Forex News
  • Investing News
  • Stock News
  • Politics News
  • Editor’s Pick
No Result
View All Result
Smarter News Now
No Result
View All Result
Home Investing News

Ukraine, Russia trade blame for nuclear plant shelling amid global alarm

by
August 9, 2022
in Investing News
0
Ukraine, Russia trade blame for nuclear plant shelling amid global alarm
0
SHARES
15
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
REUTERS

KYIV – Kyiv and Moscow traded blame on Monday for the weekend shelling of Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex amid international alarm that their battle for control of the plant could trigger catastrophe.

Calling any attack on a nuclear plant “suicidal”, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres demanded U.N. nuclear inspectors be given access to Zaporizhzhia, the largest complex of its kind in Europe.

Russia‘s invading forces seized the southern Ukrainian region containing Zaporizhzhia in March, when the site was struck without damage to its reactors. The area, including the city of Kherson, is now the target of a Ukrainian counter-offensive. Read full story

Ukraine appealed for the area around the complex to be demilitarized and for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, to be let in. Russia said it too favored an IAEA visit, which it accused Ukraine of blocking while trying to “take Europe hostage” by shelling the plant. Read full story

Ukraine blamed Russia for weekend attacks around the complex, which is still being run by Ukrainian technicians. It said three radiation sensors were damaged and two workers injured by shrapnel.

As of Monday morning, the plant appeared to still be running, said Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine‘s state nuclear power company Energoatom. He said 500 Russian soldiers and 50 pieces of heavy machinery, including tanks, trucks and armored infantry vehicles were at the site. Read full story

The Ukrainian staff at the plant had nowhere to shelter, he added.

Reuters could not independently verify either side’s account.

Mr. Kotin called for peacekeepers to run the Zaporizhzhia site, flagging the risk of shells hitting its six containers of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. In an evening video shared online, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for new Western sanctions on Russia‘s nuclear industry “for creating the threat of a nuclear disaster.”

Dr. Mark Wenman, a nuclear expert at Imperial College London, played down the risk of a major incident, saying the Zaporizhzhia reactors were relatively robust and the spent fuel well protected.

“Although it may seem worrying, and any fighting on a nuclear site would be illegal …the likelihood of a serious nuclear release is still small,” he said in a statement.

WORKING UNDER ‘RUSSIAN GUNS’

Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, Ukraine‘s ambassador to the IAEA, said Zaporizhzhia staff were “working under the barrels of Russian guns”. Read full story

Meanwhile, Russia‘s defense ministry said Ukrainian attacks had damaged power lines servicing the plant and forced it to reduce output by two of its six reactors to “prevent disruption”. Read full story

The U.N.’s Guterres said IAEA personnel needed access to “create conditions for stabilization”.

“Any attack (on) a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing,” he told a news conference in Japan, where he attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Saturday to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing.

The world’s worst civil nuclear disaster occurred in 1986 when a reactor at the Chornobyl complex in northwest Ukraine exploded. Soon after this year’s Feb. 24 invasion, Russian troops occupied that site, withdrawing in late March.

Ukraine has said it is planning to conduct a major counter-offensive around Kherson and that it has already retaken dozens of villages.

Its forces are also fighting to retake areas near Kharkiv in the north, where Russian forces launched artillery strikes on Monday, Ukraine‘s general staff said.

In Ukraine‘s Donetsk region, where pro-Moscow separatists seized territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea to the south in 2014, Russia was “using all available fire power…to try and inflict maximum losses on Ukrainian units to prevent them from reinforcing other areas,” the general staff added.

Stepping up its fiscal aid and military spending on Ukraine, Washington announced it will send $4.5 billion in budgetary support and $1 billion in weapons, including long-range rocket munitions and armored medical transport vehicles. Overall, the United States has contributed more than $18 billion to Ukraine this year. Read full story

Russia‘s foreign ministry meanwhile told the United States it was suspending inspection activities under their START nuclear arms control treaty, though it said Moscow remained committed to the treaty’s provisions.

GRAIN EXPORTS PICK UP

Adding weight to a rare diplomatic success since the war began, a deal to unblock Ukraine‘s food exports and ease global shortages gathered pace as two grain ships carrying almost 59,000 tons of corn and soybeans sailed out of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

That raised the total to 12 since the first vessel left a week ago. Read full story

The July 22 grain export pact, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, was further underpinned as the parties issued procedures for merchant ships carrying Ukrainian grain, including a 10-nautical-mile military exclusion zone, according to a document seen by Reuters. Read full story

Before the invasion, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.

Russia says it is waging a “special military operation” in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West describe Russia‘s actions as an unprovoked war of aggression.

The conflict has displaced millions, killed thousands of civilians and left cities, towns and villages in ruins. – Reuters

ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

Stocks decline on profit taking, recession fears
Investing News

Stocks decline on profit taking, recession fears

August 23, 2022
Peso climbs vs dollar as RTB offer starts
Investing News

Peso climbs vs dollar as RTB offer starts

August 23, 2022
PNR cancels bids for 3 projects after finding them ‘non-feasible’
Investing News

PNR cancels bids for 3 projects after finding them ‘non-feasible’

August 23, 2022
Senate grills Rodriguez on approval procedures for sugar import order
Investing News

Senate grills Rodriguez on approval procedures for sugar import order

August 23, 2022
Trade dep’t expecting sugar price monitoring report by Friday
Investing News

Trade dep’t expecting sugar price monitoring report by Friday

August 23, 2022
Fisherfolk seek halt to reclamation on municipal fisheries
Investing News

Fisherfolk seek halt to reclamation on municipal fisheries

August 23, 2022
Next Post
Rating agencies expect US spending bill to cut inflation, deficit over time

Rating agencies expect US spending bill to cut inflation, deficit over time

Get the daily email that makes reading the news actually enjoyable. Stay informed and entertained, for free.
Email Address *
Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!
 

Recommended

EV production to hinge on vehicle takeup levels

EV production to hinge on vehicle takeup levels

July 17, 2022
Bernie Ecclestone charged with fraud over £400m overseas assets

Bernie Ecclestone charged with fraud over £400m overseas assets

July 12, 2022
New show focuses on time-limited games

New show focuses on time-limited games

July 18, 2022
Philippines detects 32 more BA.5 subvariant cases

Philippines detects 32 more BA.5 subvariant cases

June 22, 2022
Spain seals Euro last-eight clash with England after win over Denmark

Spain seals Euro last-eight clash with England after win over Denmark

July 17, 2022
Agri policy needs more bottom-up planning to meet farmers’ needs, study concludes

Agri policy needs more bottom-up planning to meet farmers’ needs, study concludes

July 3, 2022
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact Us
  • Email Whitelisting

Copyright © 2022 SmarterNewsNow.
All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer: SmarterNewsNow.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice.
The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

No Result
View All Result
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Email Whitelisting
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Thank You

Copyright © 2020 SmarterNewsNow. All Rights Reserved.