It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, March 04, 2022
US Surgeon General orders tech companies to reveal sources of COVID-19 misinformation
President Biden's surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy has formally called on tech companies to provide information on sources and the scale of COVID-19 misinformation, The Washington Post has reported. "This is about protecting the nation’s health," he told The Post in a written statement. "Technology companies now have the opportunity to be open and transparent with the American people about the misinformation on their platforms."
Murthy's request pertains to social networks, search engines, crowdsourced platforms, e-commerce and instant messaging companies. To start with, he wants data and analysis on typical vaccine misinformation already identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes falsities like "the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous" and "COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips."
The administration seeks to learn how many users have been exposed to such misinformation, and which demographic groups may have been disproportionally affected. On top of that, it's looking for data about the major sources of COVID-19 falsities, including individuals or businesses that sell unapproved COVID-19 products or services. Tech companies have until May 2 to comply, though they won't be penalized if they don't.
Last summer, Murthy called health misinformation an "urgent threat to public health" that tech platforms needed to address, adding that "health misinformation has already caused significant harm."
The request is part of the White House's COVID National Preparedness Plan announced yesterday, designed to achieve "minimal disruption" by COVID-19. The administration also asked health providers to submit statements on how coronavirus misinformation has hurt patients and communities. "We’re asking anyone with relevant insights — from original research and data sets to personal stories that speak to the role of misinformation in public health — to share them with us."
SUNNI WAHABIST JIHADISTS Gunfight and bomb blast at Pakistani Shiite mosque kills dozens \ Fri, 4 March 2022,
A powerful bomb exploded inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, killing at least 56 people and wounding 194 others, according to a hospital official.
Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when two armed attackers opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One attacker and one policeman were killed in the gunfight, and another police official was wounded. The remaining attacker then ran inside the mosque and detonated a bomb.
Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion occurred as worshippers had gathered in the Kucha Risaldar mosque for Friday prayers.
Ambulances rushed through congested narrow streets carrying the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital, where doctors worked feverishly.
The attack came on the first day of a cricket test match in Rawalpindi – around 190 kilometres (120 miles) to the east – between Pakistan and Australia, who haven't toured Pakistan in nearly a quarter of a century because of security concerns.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but both the Islamic State (IS) group and the Pakistani Taliban have carried out similar attacks in the region, located near the border with neighbouring Afghanistan. 'Dust and bodies everywhere'
Shayan Haider, a witness, had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the street.
“I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere,” he said.
At the Lady Reading Hospital emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theatres. Hundreds of relatives gathered outside the emergency department, many of them wailing and beating their chests, pleading for information about their loved ones.
Outside the mosque, Shiite Muslims pressed through the cordoned-off streets. The Kucha Risaldar mosque is one of the oldest in the area, predating the creation of Pakistan in 1947 as a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent.
The prayer leader, Allama Irshad Hussein Khalil, a prominent young Shiite leader, was among the dead. Throughout the city, ambulance sirens could be heard.
Retired army officer Sher Ali who had been inside the mosque at the time of the explosion was injured by flying shrapnel. He made a impassioned plea to the Pakistani government for better protection of the country's minority Shiite Muslims.
“What is our sin? What have we done? Aren't we citizens of this country?” he said from within the emergency department, his white clothes splattered with blood.
In majority Sunni Muslim Pakistan, minority Shiite Muslims have come under repeated attacks.
In recent months Pakistan has experienced a broad increase of violence. Dozens of military personnel have been killed in scores of attacks on army outposts along the border with Afghanistan. Much has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which analysts say have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban's return to power last August.
Pakistan has urged Afghanistan's new rulers to hand over Pakistani Taliban insurgents who have been staging their attacks from Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Taliban say their territory will not be used to stage attacks against anyone, but until now they have not handed over any Pakistani insurgents.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
J.P. Morgan: War Spells Doom for Russian Economy
Western sanctions are making their mark on Russia's economy, with supposed advantages turning into problems.
Western sanctions are hitting Russia hard--harder than some experts expected.
Much was made before the war of Russia’s $643 billion in currency reserves. The thinking was that stash would help insulate the country from sanctions. But about half that money is under the control of commercial and central banks in the U.S. and its allies, The New York Times reports. So Russia will have difficulty getting at that stash.
J.P. Morgan offers a bleak forecast of the country’s economy, predicting “a collapse in Russian GDP.” A report from the bank’s economists, led by Bruce Kasman, said, “The sanctions will hit their mark on the Russian economy, which now looks headed for a deep recession.”
They forecast an 11% plunge in GDP from peak to trough, similar to the economy’s plight in the 1998 debt crisis.
“Sanctions undermine the two pillars promoting stability—the ‘fortress’ foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and Russia’s current account surplus,” the economists said. The current account measures a country’s trade in goods and services and capital transfers.
“Russia’s large current account surplus could have accommodated large capital outflows,” the economists said. “But with accompanying Russian central bank and SWIFT sanctions, on top of the existing restrictions, Russia’s export earnings will be disrupted, and capital outflows will likely be immediate.” SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is the messaging system that facilitates global payments.
Meanwhile, “Downward pressure on the ruble and capital flight are pushing the Russian central bank to raise rates dramatically and impose capital controls,” the economists said. “Imports and GDP will collapse.”
Sanctioned Russian billionaire banker Mikhail Fridman was locked out of the private-equity firm he cofounded and staff were told to ignore him, report says Russian banker Mikhail Fridman has a net worth of $10 billion.
AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko
Kate Duffy Fri, March 4, 2022
Russian banker Mikhail Fridman stepped down from the board of the investment firm he cofounded.
Fridman was barred from entering LetterOne's offices and speaking to employees, per the FT.
The billionaire is among oligarchs sanctioned by the EU in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russian billionaire and banker, Mikhail Fridman, was locked out of the investment firm he cofounded after he was hit by European Union sanctions, the company announced on Wednesday.
London-based LetterOne said in a press release that Fridman and Russian banker Petr Aven had stepped down from the company's board and will no longer have any dealings with the group. Fridman and Aven jointly own under 50% of LetterOne, so the company has avoided sanctions imposed on the two men.
Chairman Mervyn Davies, who has now taken control of LetterOne, told the Financial Times that employees aren't allowed to speak to Fridman. LetterOne, founded in 2013, has also locked Fridman out of its offices and blocked him from having access to documents, Davies told the FT.
Fridman's assets in the company were "effectively frozen" and his rights as a shareholder were taken away, LetterOne's press release said. He won't receive dividends, funds, or communications in any way, said LetterOne.
A company spokesperson told Insider that Fridman has "no involvement in the day-to-day management or decision-making of LetterOne and appropriate arrangements have been put in place to give effect to this."
LetterOne's actions came after the EU sanctioned Fridman as part of a package of responses to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Fridman is one of the many Russian oligarchs targeted by Western sanctions aimed at crippling Russia's economy.
The board isn't obligated to give shareholder rights back to Fridman if the EU sanctions are lifted, according to LetterOne's press release.
Fridman, who has a net worth of $10 billion according to Bloomberg, was one of the first Russian business leaders to speak out against the invasion of Ukraine.
In a letter to LetterOne employees, Fridman said that "war can never be the answer," and that "this crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years."
LetterOne, which describes itself as "an international investment business led by successful entrepreneurs and former CEOs and international businesspeople," held $22.3 billion in net assets as of 2020, according to its website.
‘They’re scared’: Wealthy Russians look to sell U.S. real estate everywhere from Fisher Island to Billionaires’ Row
Lance Lambert Fri, March 4, 2022
President Joe Biden had a crystal clear message for Russian oligarchs: We're coming for your assets.
"The United States Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of the Russian oligarchs. We're joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets. We're coming for your ill-begotten gains," Biden said Wednesday during the State of the Union. Just hours after that speech, French authorities announced they had seized a yacht linked to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin.
But it isn't just Russian oligarchs who are on edge. Wealthy non-oligarch Russians are also fretting asset seizure. In the decades since the Soviet Union collapsed, rich Russians have poured gobs of money into American real estate. Now they're worried they could get caught in the crossfire as the U.S. goes after Vladimir Putin's allies.
Dolly Lenz, one of the most sought-after luxury real estate brokers in America, tells Fortune she's getting inundated with inquiries from Russian clients who are considering selling their U.S. real estate holdings. Those luxury units—with a lot worth over $10 million—are in some of Miami’s and New York City’s most exclusive neighborhoods, including Billionaires’ Row in Manhattan.
"The heat is up. They're scared that they're going to have their real estate seized or potentially seized. Or linked to someone who is seized. They're scared to death of [guilt] by association," Lenz says. While she has yet to see a flood of Russian-owned luxury real estate hit the market, she says it's on the horizon. "There are already more inquiries, and that's how it starts. That's how we know [a flood of listings by Russians] is coming."
Not only are more ultrawealthy Russians looking to sell their properties, Lenz says, many want to cancel upcoming real estate projects and business deals, even if it means losing their deposit.
"We know of several deals where [Russian] buyers had put down money on new development—with significant deposits. And are deciding to not go through with the deal. That's pretty bad…They told us they will walk away from the deposit if the climate stays this way," Lenz says. In some cases, she says, they'd lose a deposit upwards of $15 million if they go through with exiting the real estate development deals.
But not everyone Fortune spoke with is seeing an influx of Russian luxury sellers. Stuart Siegel, global head of private office at Engel & Völkers Americas, says it's too early to tell if the Ukraine invasion will correspond with a wave of Russians selling their U.S. real estate holdings. He says economic and political instability in Russia could even encourage some Russians—at least those who aren't on federal watch lists—to cling to their American real estate holdings.
"In times of global turmoil, American real estate has always been viewed as a safe harbor," Siegel says.
France seizes Russian oligarch's yacht as EU sanctions bite
Issued on: 04/03/2022 -
01:33 French authorities seized four cargo vessels and one luxury yacht linked to oligarchs as the United States and other governments ramped up sanctions on Russia's super-rich on Thursday over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia Calls On Domestic Fertilizer Producers to Halt Exports
Elizabeth Elkin Fri, March 4, 2022
(Bloomberg) -- Russia is urging the country’s fertilizer producers to halt exports in a move that could send soaring global fertilizer prices even higher.
Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade recommended domestic fertilizer producers cut volumes to farmers due to delivery issues with foreign logistics companies, according to a Friday statement. The country, which has been facing increasing international sanctions since invading Ukraine, is a major low-cost exporter of every type of crop nutrient.
Fertilizer prices were already soaring due to Europe’s natural gas crunch that forced some producers to reduce production or, in some cases, close. Natural gas is a key ingredient in making nitrogen-based fertilizers. Elevated freight rates, tariffs, extreme weather and sanctions on Belarus, which accounts for about a fifth of the global supply of potash, also add to rising prices.
Prices for the widely used nitrogen fertilizer urea surged 29% in New Orleans for the week ended Feb. 25 — a record jump for the 45-year Green Markets index — after Russia began its attack.
Halted exports from Russia would mean higher costs for farmers worldwide, potentially increasing food inflation when global food prices have already been hitting record highs.
“Russia is the world’s largest urea exporter and second largest potash exporter,” Alexis Maxwell, an analyst for Bloomberg’s Green Markets, said in an email. “Their absence from the global market would squeeze buyers already scrambling for tons.”
BEST IDEA YET
Transfer three A-10 aircraft squadrons to Ukraine now
TANK KILLER Tech. Sgt. Gregory Brook
Everett Pyatt Thu, March 3, 2022,
“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job,“ spoke U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill in February 1941. Following this powerful speech, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed and Congress approved the lend-lease program. This provided the U.K. equipment and access to United States production capacity. This action was essential to stopping the Nazi advances.
Congress is acting in a supportive manner, but details are important. Russia must face a military defeat to enforce sanctions. The history of sanctions supports the conclusion that they do not change policy, but rather make conduct of business far more difficult while imposing distress on the economy as shown in Iraq, Iran, North Korea and others.
Sanctions must be accompanied by military success.
Zelenskyy has requested weapons and support in line with Churchill’s philosophy. Ukrainian soldiers have proved their courage and bravery. There is one more step that could be decisive: the transfer of three squadrons of A-10 aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force.
This aircraft and its gun system were designed to counter an armored assault in Europe. They proved effective in Desert Storm’s target-rich environment, quite similar to the current advancing Russian force. They also became the infantry’s friend in close-air support missions.
The United States Air Force has deployment packages ready to go. The whole transfer to the Ukrainian Air Force could be completed in days after congressional authorization.
Firepower is needed to defeat the coming onslaught of armored forces. Other weapons are necessary for ground forces, but air power will be decisive. The A-10 has proven this ability and was designed for this purpose.
Zelenskyy asked NATO for air support. This request was declined by NATO. That is an appropriate decision since Russia has not attacked NATO.
However, that decision leaves each country an opportunity to decide based on its own moral compass. Many, including the United States, have decided to provide and have already supplied lethal aid necessary to slow the Russian advance. Some effects are notable, but military analysts agree that the long-term outlook for Ukraine’s survival is not good. One predicts a continuing resistance war for decades.
Zelenskyy is right in requesting air power support. It is necessary to slow or stop the oncoming juggernaut of Russian armored forces. The United States has the most effective weapon for this role — the U.S. Air Force’s A-10 aircraft. It is available since the service wants to retire most of the 30-year-old fleet. The airplane was designed to operate in Europe from ill-prepared facilities. Pilot retraining is minimal. All that is needed is painting Ukrainian insignia and delivering the aircraft. This could be done in days.
Each day is critical to slowing the momentum of Russia’s invading force. It is time to implement the United States’ moral compass and add the A-10 to the list of weapons already scheduled. Failure to add defensive capability to current Ukraine forces, while sanctions develop, weakens the potential impact of sanctions. They are complementary actions.
Everett Pyatt is a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for shipbuilding and logistics.
INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE Volunteers cross Polish border into Ukraine to fight Russian forces
Konstantin Shukhnov and Corky Siemaszko Thu, March 3, 2022, 5:04 PM·3 min read
MEDYKA, POLAND — While busloads of Ukrainian refugees streamed across the border Thursday into Poland, small groups of determined-looking men were heading in the opposite direction to fight the Russians.
Most appeared to be Ukrainian émigrés in their 20s and 30s, but some could also be heard speaking other languages. Many of the men had black tactical boots hanging from their duffle bags.
And judging by the license plates of the cars dropping them off at the crossing in this Polish border town, they had come from as far away as Italy and Germany.
Among those heading east into Ukraine was a man with a military bearing from Great Britain who identified himself only as Ian and said he was 62.
“I’m going to fight,” Ian told NBC News correspondent Jay Gray.
Image: (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
Then Ian walked up to the Ukrainian border guards, who looked him over, checked his papers and sent him to the left to join the other hard-eyed men waiting for a bus bound for the battle against the Russians.
Ian and the others were answering the call that embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on his website Sunday for “friends of peace and democracy” to join their new brigade, the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, and help them fight the Russians.
“This is the beginning of a war against Europe, against European structures, against democracy, against basic human rights, against a global order of law, rules and peaceful coexistence,” his statement said.
Zelenskyy said Thursday that some 16,000 foreigners have already joined the brigade, a number NBC News could not immediately confirm. Video: How American volunteers are helping evacuation efforts in Ukraine
The Ukrainian leader’s appeal harkened back to the 1930s when the embattled Spanish government called for international volunteers to help fight in the civil war against Gen. Ferdinand Franco and the fascists, a struggle Ernest Hemingway immortalized in “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
In France, the Ukrainian Embassy has been actively recruiting former soldiers to join the fight, and it set up a Facebook page with information and paperwork they would need to fill out, The New York Times reported.
More than 1 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled in the eight days since the Russians invaded their country, and the pace at which civilians have been crossing the border into Poland has been accelerating as the fighting has grown fiercer. Image: (Visar Kryeziu / AP)
An army of Polish volunteers backed by relief workers from other countries has set up refugee aid centers in nearby cities, like Przemysl, an ancient city of some 61,000 people.
From there, Ukrainian refugees have been bused to major Polish cities like Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk, as well as to Germany, Austria and even Denmark. Image: Women and children fleeing war in Ukraine cross the border into Poland at Medyka on March 3, 2022. (Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
In recent days, the border crossing at Medyka has been the scene of emotional reunions as émigré Ukrainians reunited with loved ones who had traveled for days to get there.
There have been outbursts of anger from Ukrainians frustrated by the bureaucracy on both sides of the border. And there have been allegations of racism lodged by Africans and Asians who had been living in Ukraine and who say their escape was delayed by Ukrainian border guards.
But on Thursday, the evacuation appeared to be going smoothly. Image: A father hugs his daughter as the family reunite after fleeing conflict in Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing, in Poland on Feb. 27, 2022. (Visar Kryeziu / AP)
Rather than marching across the border, most of the escapees boarded buses provided by Poland's national fire department on the Ukrainian side.
Waiting on the Polish side was a couple who gave their names as Jim and Alyona and said they had driven to Medyka from Belgium.
Alyona, who's Ukrainian, was waiting to collect her sister, who had been traveling by train for several days from the city of Dnipro.
Visibly distraught, Alyona said she had heard from her sister, who was still at least three to five hours away from Medyka.
"I will wait here all night if I have to," Alyona said.
Konstantin Shukhnov reported from Medyka, Poland, and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.
African students fleeing Ukraine report racial discrimination at borders
At least a million refugees have fled Ukraine over the past week, seeking safety in neighboring European countries from Russia’s advancing military forces. Amid the chaos and deadly attacks on major cities that the U.N. estimates have so far killed approximately 3,300 civilians, some African students have reported encountering ugly instances of racism from some civilians and members of the Ukrainian military as they try to escape the country.
Korrine Sky, a 26-year-old second-year medical student from Leicester, England, documented on Twitter what she endured, using the trending hashtag #africansinukraine.
On Feb. 25, after hearing the air-raid sirens sound in Dnipro, a city in eastern Ukraine, Sky, a Zimbabwean-born British citizen, and her husband, a neurosurgery student she met in Ukraine, hastily gathered documents and some of their belongings and set off for the Romanian border. The couple faced long lines for gas and to get money out of an ATM before they joined an automotive queue at the border. Still in Ukraine, they slept in the car for two days.
“On our way to the border, a man held a gun up at me and told us that if we don’t leave in five minutes, he would shoot us,” Sky told a pool of reporters that included Yahoo News. “Other Black women have been reported being shoved, being pushed, women with children. It’s horrific. The treatment has been awful.”
The last 24 hours of her journey in the queue, Sky said, were the worst because that’s when she started facing “racism and segregation.” She said that while she and her husband were making their way to the front of the line, Ukrainian civilians began aggressively circling their car, with one man allegedly lunging at her.
Fearful of the mob, Sky’s husband pulled the car off the road to seek assistance from the Ukrainian military, but was met by another civilian who attempted to divert them onto a pedestrian border crossing.
“In that pedestrian queue, there were only people of color,” Sky said. “There were Asians, Arab people, Black people. There were no Ukrainian people.”
At another crossing point, she said, Ukrainian people were just walking through the border.
“If you look on the other side, there was a fence, there were Ukrainian people just walking through, but we were told to queue. We had to queue, and there was not a single Ukrainian person in that queue,” Sky said. “Students who come from different countries to get an education for a better life for our families and friends, we’re the least of their worries.”
Another African student, Alexander Somto Orah of Nigeria, tweeted that when he finally reached the border with some companions, Ukrainian police and members of the army initially refused to let them cross while allowing white Ukrainians through the entry point without incident.
According to the New York Times, 24-year-old Nigerian doctor Chineye Mbagwu, who resided in the western Ukrainian town of Ivano-Frankivsk, said she was stranded in the town of Medyka for two days at the Poland-Ukraine border crossing as foreigners were denied passage by border guards.
“The Ukrainian border guards were not letting us through. They were beating people up with sticks” and tearing off their jackets, she added. “They would slap them, beat them and push them to the end of the queue. It was awful.”
Other accounts using the #africansinukraine hashtag (but unverified by Yahoo News) involve African men, women and children being shoved off trains and buses by Ukrainian troops.
Refugees from Africa, the Middle East and India, many of them students at Ukrainian universities, gather at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing in Ukraine. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images)
Sky, who said she fled Zimbabwe with her family at a young age to seek asylum in the U.K., was one of tens of thousands of African students studying in Ukraine when Russia launched its invasion last week. She said she had come to the popular destination for international students to study medicine, engineering and military affairs.
“I was heartbroken because Ukraine was becoming our home. We never expected this. We never planned for this. Nobody really believed it was going to happen, and to happen on this scale,” she said.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that Russia’s invasion had “affected Ukrainians and non-citizens in many devastating ways” and emphasized the country’s support for African students fleeing the country.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Commissioner Filippo Grandi also condemned the alleged instances of discrimination on the Ukrainian border. “There has been a different treatment. ... There should be absolutely no discrimination between Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians, Europeans and non-Europeans. Everyone is fleeing from the same risks.” He added that UNHCR “plans to intervene to try to ensure that everybody receives equal treatment.”
On Monday, the African Union, which represents the 55 countries on the African continent, also warned that “reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach [of] international law.” The union urged all countries to “show the same empathy and support to all people fleeing war notwithstanding their racial identity.”
Sky and her husband, who drove for over 40 hours before finally arriving in Romania on Monday night, are now heading back to the U.K. after what has proven to be an emotionally charged week.
“The Romanian people have been so good to us. It’s been a massive effort of volunteers from people in Romania, seeing where they can assist.” Sky added that Romanians provided them with hotel rooms, food and water at the border.
Sky has also used her newfound platform to raise funds and awareness to get help for other students. She’s created a database via Telegram for students, including hundreds still stuck in Sumy, Ukraine, to stay in contact and provide resources while they navigate to safety.
“What we need right now is support from the U.N. or people who have the power to ensure the safety of those students,” she said.
On Thursday, during a second round of talks, officials from Russia and Ukraine agreed on a pact to create safe corridors to evacuate civilians and deliver aid.
Noting that many of those students still stuck in Ukraine are as young as 16, Sky said she worries about what they and their families may face in the days ahead.
“There’s children there, basically, and their parents are worried sick about them,” she said.
Hundreds of NGOs call for import ban on Russian oil, gas
AFP Hundreds of civil society groups and NGOs Friday called on governments worldwide to "reject and ban any import of fossil fuels from Russia" in order to cut off the main source of revenue for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Some 40 percent of Europe's natural gas needs are supplied by Russia It is "clear that this war machine has been funded, fed and fuelled by the coal, oil and gas industries that are driving both the invasion threatening Ukraine and the climate crisis threatening humanity's future," they said in an open letter. "Putin's income streams must be dried out as soon as possible," said the letter, signed by the World Council of Churches, 350.org, Greenpeace and CAN International, an umbrella organisation of more than 1,500 climate NGOs.
Approximately 40 percent of Russia's federal budget comes from oil and gas revenues, which also make up about three-fifths of Russian exports.
"Putin has deliberately weaponized fossil gas to increase his existing energy dominance over the European Union and to threaten European nations that would come to Ukraine's aid," the letter said. "This needs to stop!"
Some 40 percent of Europe's natural gas needs are supplied by Russia, with Germany, Hungary and Slovakia especially dependent.
"We call on you to urgently work with your European colleagues on ending this fossil fuel addiction once and for all," said the letter, addressing other importers of Russian oil and gas, such as the United States, Canada, China, India and Japan.
The signatories also included Ukrainian officials and numerous civil society organisations.
Roman Shakhmatenko, Ukraine's deputy environment minister, called on the world to "stop being indifferent".
Countries should not simply replace Russian-produced fossil fuels with coal, oil and gas from other countries in order to avoid the worst ravages of global warming, the NGOs warned.
A landmark UN report on climate impacts released this week reports a measurable increase in deadly storms, heatwaves, droughts and rainfall events all made worse by rising temperatures, with projections of far worse to come.
On the last day of the 195-nation closed-door conference leading up to the report's release, Ukraine's head of delegation made a similar plea.
"We will not surrender in Ukraine, and we hope the world will not surrender in building a climate resilient future," Svitlana Krakovska told the closing plenary in English, according to multiple sources.
"Human-induced climate change and the war on Ukraine have the same roots -- fossil fuels -- and our dependence on them."
mh/klm/pvh
Ukraine: a nuclear-powered nation under fire
Issued on: 04/03/2022 - Ukraine's nuclear power plants Eléonore HUGHES AFP
Paris (AFP) – The Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine -- the largest in Europe -- has sparked international outrage and fears over the country's 15 operational reactors.
The Zaporizhzhia reactors, apparently undamaged by the attack, were taken over by invading Russian forces that have also stationed themselves at Chernobyl, the site of the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history.
Experts have condemned the attack, while stressing that Ukraine's modern reactors are built to withstand most human-caused and natural impacts.
Here's what we know about nuclear power in Ukraine:
- Nuclear-powered nation -
Ukraine is the seventh-largest producer of nuclear electricity in the world, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) figures for 2020.
The country, which relies on nuclear energy for more than half of its power supply, has made significant improvements in nuclear safety over the years, experts say.
Zaporizhzhia has six of the country's 15 reactors and can create enough energy for four million homes.
The plant is "relatively modern", said Mark Wenman of Imperial College London, noting its reactor components are housed inside a heavily reinforced containment building that can "withstand extreme external events, both natural and man-made, such as an aircraft crash or explosions".
"The design is a lot different to the Chernobyl reactor, which did not have a containment building, and hence there is no real risk, in my opinion, at the plant now [that] the reactors have been safely shut down," he told the Science Media Centre.
The battle at the site caused a fire at an adjacent training facility, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said early Friday.
He said only one of the six reactors was operating at about 60 percent, another had been undergoing maintenance, two were in "safety-controlled shutdown" and the last two "were already being held in reserve and are operating in low-power mode".
Ukrainian monitors say there has been no spike in radiation.
Conflict fears
Earlier this week Greenpeace warned that the Russian invasion risks a "nightmare scenario" at one of the country's nuclear sites, potentially involving an explosion that caused cooling systems to fail and large amounts of radioactivity to be spread on the wind.
This, the charity said in an analysis focusing on Zaporizhzhia, could render large parts of Europe and Russia "uninhabitable for at least many decades".
The main risk now is a loss of the power supply as the plant needs water and electricity to operate the safety systems and cool the reactor core, according to Karine Herviou, Deputy Director General of the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety.
But the site has emergency generators, which normally have fuel to operate for seven to 10 days, as well as water reserves.
The other risk is direct aggression.
Herviou said the containment buildings offer protection to a point "but it all depends on what we are talking about".
An attack that hit another part of the plant could affect safety systems, she added. Chernobyl
Ukraine, which has significant uranium reserves, began developing nuclear power in the 1970s -- when it was still a part of the USSR -- with the construction of Chernobyl.
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster left hundreds dead and spread radioactive contamination west across Europe.
Damaged Reactor No. 4 was initially covered by a temporary sarcophagus, then by a containment arch completed in 2017. Russia seized the site on February 24.
The Ukrainian authorities have recently noted an increase in radiation at Chernobyl, but the IAEA has said the levels measured pose no danger to the public.
Experts have speculated that military activity around the site may have kicked up contaminated dust.
Ukraine's current stock of reactors are Soviet or Russian-designed VVERs, which are pressurised water reactors.
"Ukraine receives most of its nuclear services and nuclear fuel from Russia," says the World Nuclear Association, although it has noted that the country had already begun "reducing this dependence".
The nuclear operator Energoatom has recently turned to the US firm Westinghouse to build new reactors.
