Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the largest of its kind in Europe, was on fire in the early hours of Friday morning (4 March 2022) after an attack by Russian troops, the mayor of the nearby town of Energodar said.
A live feed from the station showed flames at the site in the east of country, having earlier showed tanks firing at buildings - sparking fears of a radiation disaster in the nation currently under invasion by Russian forces.
There has been fierce fighting between local forces and Russian troops, the mayor - Dmytro Orlov - said in an online post reporting the fire, adding that there had been casualties without giving details.
"As a result of continuous enemy shelling of buildings and units of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is on fire," Orlov said on his Telegram channel, citing what he called a threat to world security.
Earlier, Ukrainian authorities reported Russian troops were stepping up efforts to seize the plant and had entered the town with tanks.
The shocking footage came after Ukrainian civilians defied Russian troops for a second day running in a bid to protect the nuclear plant. They were shown setting up make-shift road blocks in an attempt to block the road to the facility.
Both the Ukrainian state atomic energy company and Orlov said troops were nearing Zaporizhzhia. Officials said loud shots were heard in the city late Thursday.
Ukraine officials are pleading with Russians to stop their assault on the massive Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, warning that destroying the plant could cause an explosion “10 times larger than Chernobyl.”
CCTV footage from the plant appears to show parts of the powerplant already on fire.
“Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Fire has already broke out. If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone! “Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba tweeted early Friday morning.“
Zaporizhzhia (above) is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and generates 25 percent of all of Ukraine’s power. The plant is located in the city of Enerhodar, about 400 miles southeast of Kyiv on the Dnieper River.
Ukrainian leaders have asked Western allies to close the airspace over the powerplants, a proposition ruled out by the United States and NATO as would lead to direct confrontation with Russian forces.
See also: https://nypost.com/2022/03/02/russia-ukraine-war-news-latest-updates-from-europe-conflict/
Video of Zaporizhzhia : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYUT36YGOh8
Ukrainian civilians defied Russian troops for a second day running in a bid to protect Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
Huge plumes of black smoke and fire were seen coming from a makeshift barricade on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site in eastern Ukraine, as an air raid siren wailed in the background.
The footage, taken earlier today, showed armed men holding guns and wearing bulletproof vests as rounds of ammunition appeared to be fired by Russian troops.
Two brave civilians can be seen throwing molotov cocktails in the direction of Russian forces, in a video posted to Facebook by the mayor of Enerhodar, Dmitri Orlov.
Missiles lighting up the sky have also been fired this evening as Russian troops advance through Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia is the largest of Ukraine’s nuclear sites, with six out of the country’s 15 reactors. Russia has already seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Research by specialists for Greenpeace International found that, in a worst-case scenario where explosions destroy the reactor containment and cooling systems at Zaporizhzhia, it could create a disaster far worse even than Fukushima in Japan in 2011.
Yesterday Ukrainian civilians built makeshift roadblocks with bright orange lorries and piles of tyres on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site.
Brandishing Ukrainian flags, the army of volunteers created a human barricade near the city of Enerhodar to stop advancing Russian troops.
Footage posted on social media showed the blockade, reportedly a kilometre long and comprising scrap cars, garbage trucks and sandbags.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, warned the Russians could create a "new Chernobyl" if the plant was damaged.
‘Because of Vladimir Putin’s madness, Europe is again on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe,’ he wrote on Facebook.
"The city where the largest nucleur power plant in Europe is located is preparing for a battle with the invaders. An accident can happen like at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Russian generals – think again! Radiation does not know nationalities, does not spare anyone!"
Russia has written to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying its forces have taken control of the area around the plant.
The UN nuclear watchdog said Moscow claimed technicians at Zaporizhzhia were continuing their "work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation".
The letter added that the radiation levels "remain normal".
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned that any "accident involving the nuclear facilities in Ukraine could have severe consequences for public health and the environment".
He said it was "imperative to ensure that the brave people who operate, regulate, inspect and assess the nuclear facilities in Ukraine can continue to do their indispensable jobs safely, unimpeded and without undue pressure".
Jan Vande Putte, co-author of the risk analysis, said, "So long as this war continues the military threat to Ukraine’s nuclear plants will remain. This is one further reason, amongst so many, why Putin needs to immediately cease his war on Ukraine.’"
The fight to protect Zaporizhzhia is symbolic of the everyday heroism shown by the Ukrainian people. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, told the BBC he had seen a line "hours long" of civilians queuing up to get weapons.
"Right now, people are proud," the former world champion boxer said. His brother Wladimir, who was also a top fighter, said, "This is our home. Our parents are buried here, our children go to school here. Why should we flee? What would you do if someone gets in to your house? You defend it."
News (3) to (4) / Reporters : Elizabeth Elkind etal., Daily Mail / https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10575189/Trump-rips-Jan-6-committees-lies-Marxist-tactics-response-criminal-conspiracy-claims.html
News (3)
Trump rages at January 6 committee's "lies and Marxist tactics"
Donald Trump accused the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot of using "lies and Marxist tactics" on Thursday after lawmakers said the former president committed 'criminal conspiracy."
News (4)
Trump accuses Republican Eric Swalwell of having "steamy affair" with CCP spy Fang Fang in response to "criminal conspiracy" claims
Trump unleashed on several of his rivals in a lengthy statement where he also claimed Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell had a "steaming hot affair with a Chinese spy" and called former Attorney General Bill Barr a "broken man."
"The actual conspiracy to defraud the United States was the Democrats rigging the Election, and the Fake News Media and the Unselect Committee covering it up. Few things could be more fraudulent, or met with more irregularities, than the Presidential Election of 2020," Trump said through his Save America PAC.
"The evidence is monumental but the Unselect Committee of politically partisan hacks, and someone who had a steaming hot affair with a Chinese spy, hides the facts."
That "someone" is in reference to reports that Swalwell, not a member of the committee but one of Trump's most vocal critics in Congress, was targeted by a Chinese spy during his early years in local elected office.
The California congressman was reportedly one of several politicians targeted by a Chinese national named Fang Fang, who helped Swalwell fundraise for his 2014 campaign. Axios first broke the story in 2020. Swalwell, who sits on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, cut all ties with Fang in 2015 after being alerted by federal investigators.
A spokesperson for Trump confirmed to DailyMail.com that he was referring to Swalwell.
In his Thursday statement, Trump alleged the January 6 committee's real goal was not to investigate the Capitol riot but to stop him from running in 2024.
He blamed the insurrection on the fact that "millions of people in our Country know the Election was Rigged and Stolen" and slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not beefing up security ahead of time.
Trump's spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com that the person he claimed "had a steaming hot affair with a Chinese spy" is California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell.
"The Unselect Committee’s sole goal is to try to prevent President Trump, who is leading by large margins in every poll, from running again for president, if I so choose," he said.
"By so doing they are destroying democracy as we know it. Their lies and Marxist tactics against political opponents will not stop the truth, or the biggest political movement, Make America Great Again/America First, in the history of our Country."
News (5)
Zelenskyy appeals with Putin to sit down with him for talks
Reporters : Chris Jewers etal., Daily Mail / https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10573065/Ukraine-war-Kyiv-convoy-hardly-moved-three-days.html
At night of 3 March 2022, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to sit down with him at the negotiating table in person during another impassioned television appearance.
Zelenskyy's comments came as Putin's forces continued their brutal assault on several of Ukraine's cities, and on the same day negotiations between the two sides made little progress in deescalating the deadly war.
In an appeal to his Russian counterpart, Zelenskyy said, "Get off our land. You don't want to leave now? Then sit down with me at the negotiation table. I'm available. Sit. Just not 30 metres away like with Macron or Scholz etc. I am your neighbour. You don't need to keep me 30 metres away.
"I don't bite. I'm a normal bloke. Sit down with me and talk. What are you afraid of? We aren't threatening anyone, we're not terrorists, we aren't seizing banks and seizing foreign land."
Zelensky's subsequent comments came in during a press conference in Kyiv and in response to a reporter's question on what 'guarantees' Ukraine can offer.
"Guarantees for what?" Zelensky fired back at the interviewer in Russian. "We aren't attacking Russia and we have no intention of doing so. Guarantee what? We aren't in NATO. We don't have nuclear weapons. What am I supposed to say, what am I supposed to give, and to whom?
"You must understand - this is also a huge thing that everybody is talking about - what am I supposed to give? Jesus, what do you want from us?!"
Ukraine's president, who has become an inspirational figure both at home and abroad for his defiance in the face of Russian aggression, also called on the West to supply planes to help his military control the skies. It came after NATO members ruled out enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine for fear of igniting World War Three.
"If you do not have the power to close the skies, then give me planes!" Zelenskyy told a news conference. 'If we are no more then, God forbid, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia will be next,' he said, adding that direct talks with Putin were "the only way to stop this war".
News (6)
Russia and Ukraine agree to open humanitarian corridor after the second round of negotiations
Podolyak , an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential palace, said the second round of talks with Moscow had ended and the two sides agreed to open a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians.
Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter, "The second round of negotiations is over, unfortunately Ukraine has not won the result it needs, only a decision on the arrangement of the humanitarian corridor is made."
According to the AFP news agency. Russia agreed to support the idea of a humanitarian corridor for civilians and a possible ceasefire around the corridor.
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, said in what he described as "significant progress".
Ref: news.tvbs.com.tw/world/1730812
News (7)
Putin threatens Europe's security
Boris Johnson has accused Russia of "threatening the security of the whole of Europe' after Putin's troops attacked the continent's largest nuclear power plant overnight, sparking a fire that raged for hours before emergency crews were eventually allow to extinguish it as Russian soldiers seized the complex.
News (12)
Zelenskyy calls the atomic plant attack "nuclear terrorism"
Mr Johnson condemned the attack as "reckless" after a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky who branded it "nuclear terrorism". Jen Stoltenburg, who is in Brussels today to meet with NATO allies, denounced attacks on all civilian infrastructure and said the fire at the plant underlined the need to end Putin's war as soon as possible.
Russian troops had attacked the Zaporizhzhia plant in the early hours of Friday, with CCTV capturing a fierce gun battle between Putin's men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-storey training building just outside the main complex. Moscow's men then stopped firefighters getting to the building for several hours.
Eventually, emergency crews were allowed to go in and douse the flames before Russian troops moved in an occupied the site, which provides a fifth of Ukraine's electricity. The UN's nuclear monitoring agency said that, fortunately, none of the site's six reactors had been directly damaged and radiation levels remained normal.
News (13)
Moscow denies responsibility for the atomic plant attack
Moscow has, predictably, attempted to deny responsibility for the attack, saying its forces had come under attack by Ukrainian 'saboteurs' while patrolling the plant, who then set fire to the building themselves.
News (14)
Ukraine's five inactive atomic plants also at risk
Ukraine is home to three other active nuclear power plants, one of which is located 70 miles from the city of Mykolaiv which Russian forces have begun attacking after seizing nearby Kherson. The other two active sites are located in the west and are not currently under threat, though that situation could change as the Russian attack branches out. Ukraine also has five sites which are out of action, but could still pose a risk if hit by shells.
News (15)
Putin's men shut down reactors at Zaporizhzhia
Claire Corkhill, professor of nuclear materials at Sheffield University, told the corporation that the reactors at Zaporizhzhia now appear to be shutting down to remove the danger - which may have been Russia's intention in attacking the plant.
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