Anti-feminist conservative or foul-mouthed liberal? South Korea to pick new president

Author: AFP|

Update: 06.03.2022

Former prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol and maverick ex-governor Lee Jae-myung (pictured) are in a neck-and-neck race to become the next leader of South Korea / © AFP

South Korea will elect a new president Wednesday and voters face a stark choice: a feminist-bashing conservative or a scandal-plagued liberal? So far, it's a dead heat.

The two frontrunners, dour former prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power party and the incumbent Democratic party's maverick ex-governor Lee Jae-myung are trapped in a neck-and-neck race to become the next leader of Asia's fourth largest economy.

And what propels one of them to victory will not be their populist campaign promises or North Korea policy, analysts say. Instead, it's what the papers have dubbed a "cycle of revenge" in South Korea's famously adversarial politics.


"This election is a battle between two opposite forces -- the progressives and conservatives," said political analyst Park Sang-byoung.

South Korean presidents are allowed by law to serve a single five year term, and every living former president has been investigated and jailed for corruption after leaving office.

Newspapers say South Korea's famously adversarial politics are trapped in a "cycle of revenge" / © AFP

Outgoing President Moon Jae-in himself swept to power in 2017 after his disgraced predecessor Park Geun-hye was impeached over an influence-peddling scandal that also put a Samsung heir behind bars.

Now, Park's conservatives are eager for revenge.

Ironically, their candidate Yoon was chief prosecutor under Moon and pursued Park when she was impeached -- an experience that boosted his profile and popularity and pushed him to enter politics.

- Realpolitik -

South Korean politics has seen a "deepening division" in recent years, with elections more focused on party rivalry than policy, analyst Yoo Jung-hoon told AFP.

"Many conservatives still hold a grudge over the impeachment of Park Geun-hye," he said.

Yoon is appealing to these disgruntled voters, offering a chance at "revenge" for Park's ousting -- even going so far as to threaten to investigate Moon for unspecified "irregularities".

"We should do it," Yoon said last month, referring to prosecuting Moon and his administration.

His comments earned a rare rebuke from the presidential Blue House and the ruling Democratic party's candidate Lee said they indicated his rival was not fit to lead the nation.

But analysts say it's just political business as usual in Seoul.

Dour prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol is appealing to disgruntled voters angry about the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye / © AFP

"The Moon administration has prosecuted many former officials in the name of rooting out deep-rooted corruption," Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.

"I expect the same standard to be applied under the Yoon government should wrongdoings be found," he said.

Yoon's wife in January gave an unwitting insight into the realpolitik to come, claiming enemies and critics would be prosecuted if her husband won because that's "the nature of power," according to taped comments released after a court battle.

- Where's the policy? -

Polls show that voters' top concerns this election cycle are skyrocketing house prices in the capital Seoul, stagnant growth, and stubborn youth unemployment -- but campaigning has been dominated by mud-slinging.

Lee, a former mayor and provincial governor, has a slew of fresh policy offerings -- from universal basic income to free school uniforms -- but they've been overshadowed by media coverage of his scandals.

He is being scrutinised over a suspect land development deal, with two key witnesses to the case having killed themselves.

He was forced to start his campaign by apologising for a profanity-laden family phone call, his wife was accused of misappropriating public funds, and he's been dogged by rumours of mafia-links.

Lee, a former mayor and provincial governor, has a slew of fresh policy offerings -- from universal basic income to free school uniforms -- but they've been overshadowed by media coverage of his scandals / © AFP

His rival Yoon has himself made a series of gaffes, most recently having to delete a "tone deaf" tweet on Ukraine which included a tangerine with an angry face drawn on -- a bizarre reference to that country's Orange Revolution.

Moreover, Yoon's most memorable policy is an offer to abolish the gender equality ministry, on the basis that -- despite voluminous data to the contrary -- South Korean women do not suffer "systemic gender discrimination," he says.

Yoon is more hawkish than Lee on North Korea, threatening a pre-emptive strike on the South's nuclear-armed neighbour if needed.

But, despite a record-breaking seven weapons tests in a month in January, North Korea is not a major deciding factor in the vote, analysts say.

"The North's launches have minimal impact in elections because South Korea's competition for supremacy with the North is long over," said analyst Yoo.

"South Korean elections have revolved around political rivalry rather than policy issues for many years."

ALBERTA TOO
America is finally cleaning up its abandoned, leaking oil wells




Oil leaks from equipment at the Placerita Oil Field, in Santa Clarita, California on February 22, 2022, where the state is plugging 56 abandoned wells

 (AFP/Robyn BECK)

Chris Stein
Sat, March 5, 2022

Bill Suan bought his family's cattle farm in the mountains of West Virginia a decade-and-a-half ago with little thought for the two gas wells drilled on the property -- but then they started leaking oil onto his fields and sickening his cows.

After taking the operator to court, Suan was successful in plugging one well, but the company has since disappeared, leaving him to contend with a small-scale environmental disaster that's a symptom of the larger problem of orphaned oil wells across the United States.

"It's shocking to think that it was like that for decades," Suan said.

From rural areas in the east where modern oil production began to cities in southern California, where pumpjacks loom not far from homes, the United States is pockmarked with perhaps millions of oil wells that are unsealed, haven't produced in decades, and sometimes do not have an identifiable owner.

The detritus of lax regulation and the petroleum industry's booms and busts, many states have struggled to deal with these wells, which can leak oil and brine into water supplies as well as emit methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.

In a first, Washington is making a concerted effort to plug these wells through a $4.7 billion fund, passed as part of an expansive overhaul of the nation's infrastructure.

"The money available to the states (has) never been commensurate to the scale of the problem, and now for the first time it will be," said Adam Peltz, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) nonprofit.

The funds will likely not be enough to solve the problem entirely, though, and environmentalists warn that the patchwork of state laws governing oil production include many loopholes that could allow companies to continue abandoning wells.

- Disappearing owners -

Since the first commercial barrel of oil was extracted in Pennsylvania in 1859, the United States has been at the center of global petroleum production.

But in many US states, it took more than a century to pass regulations governing record-keeping for wells and their sealing, or plugging.

Today, the exact number of abandoned wells nationwide is unknown, but the Environmental Protection Agency this year estimated it to be around 3.5 million.

The EDF estimates around nine million Americans live within a mile of a well that's considered orphaned, meaning that it's neither operating, nor has a documented owner.

In southern California's Kern County, the Central California Environmental Justice Network has received reports of abandoned petroleum infrastructure leaking oil next to schools and homes.

"A lot of the infrastructure that was built, that was now abandoned... is very much centered around poor communities," said Gustavo Aguirre Jr., the network's director in the county.

States have largely been left to their own devices when it comes to addressing these wells.

California plugs a few dozen per-year, according to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), and is currently in the process of sealing 56 near the city of Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles, some of which date back to 1949.

The bulk of America's orphaned wells are thought to be in eastern states where the industry was born, and where more than 160 years later, it's not unheard of for landowners to find a hole in the ground or a pipe protruding from the earth that's leaking oil or brine.

Pennsylvania, which is thought to have the most, plugged 18 orphaned wells in 2020, according to the IOGCC. In the same year, West Virginia, which has thousands of documented orphaned wells, plugged one.

"It's been decades of neglect, just letting them get away with it, not forcing the plugging regulations," said Suan, who has had to fence off the unplugged well on his land to keep cattle from getting into the leaked oil.

"And now we're stuck with all of them."

- 'Every slice' -

The federal infrastructure bill Congress approved last year will likely allow a chunk of these wells to be sealed, said Ted Boettner, a senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, which studies energy in the eastern region where oil production began.

However, he warned that in some states there aren't enough inspectors or financial requirements to keep drillers from continuing to walk away from their wells.

"This is just a drop, then, and the bonding coverage is so inadequate," Boettner said.

A McGill University study published last year ranked abandoned wells as the 10th greatest methane emitter in the United States, far below industries like cattle and natural gas production.

But with President Joe Biden's administration trying to curb the country's emissions where it can, and as estimates of future damage by climate change grow increasingly dire, Peltz characterized the plugging investment as a start.

"If we have to give every slice of the pie, which we do, we have to get this slice of the pie," he said.

cs/des/md

WHITE MALE ANGER
Whitmer plot underlines growing abuse of women officials

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces the first round of Michigan Mobility Funding Platform grants on Sept. 15, 2021, at the GM Mobility Research Center at Kettering University in Flint, Mich. The plot to kidnap Whitmer represents a growing anger in U.S. politics, and violence – both physical and non-physical – that is disproportionately aimed at women elected officials and candidates, and particularly women of color. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP, File)

Angry over COVID-19 restrictions such as the closing of gyms, people from several states met in Ohio in June 2020 to plot ways to overthrow government “tyrants,” prosecutors say. Within a week, they chose Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as a target.

The plan, as outlined in a federal court indictment, was to kidnap Whitmer at her family’s northern Michigan vacation home and take her to Wisconsin for a “trial.” Over several months, they held training exercises and conducted surveillance on Whitmer’s home in preparation for what a group leader called “a snatch and grab.”

“Just grab the bitch,” Adam Fox was recorded telling a confidential informant working with the FBI, prosecutors say. “Because at that point, we do that, dude — it’s over.”

Though it was interrupted by authorities, the alleged plot — for which four men will face trial in a Michigan courtroom beginning Tuesday — represented an increasing level of anger and violence in U.S. politics. That violence disproportionately targets female elected officials, and particularly women of color.

While criticism of public officials is healthy and expected in a democracy, researchers say women are dramatically more likely than their male counterparts to face threats and violence. As more women are elected, the hostility grows, ranging from death threats to armed people gathered outside homes, or attacks on social media that go beyond policy positions to include gendered or racial slurs and insults about intelligence or appearance.

That could have longer-term effects by pushing women to leave public office or deterring them from running, potentially reversing the progress women have made in diversifying who represents the country at City Hall, on school boards and in statehouses and other offices.

Whitmer appears to have been among the women lawmakers targeted in part due to gender. The men who prosecutors say participated in the plot came from different states, and she was not the only U.S. governor to impose pandemic-related restrictions.

In transcripts of recorded conversations, hours of which prosecutors are expected to present at trial, the use of gendered slurs and men discussing things like “taking” Whitmer indicate their rage goes beyond her policies, said Rutgers University Professor Mona Lena Krook, who authored a 2020 book on global violence against women in politics.

“It’s like ‘Who does she think she is trying to tell us what to do?’” Krook said. “There is a sense they’re trying to delegitimize her because they don’t feel like she has the right, that she’s allowed to be there because she’s a woman ... I think they take it very personally.”

Several studies have shown the disparity between how men and women are treated. Researchers for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue measured online abuse of congressional candidates in the 2020 election, including direct or indirect threats and promoting violence or demeaning a person based on identity such as race or gender. They found female Democrats received 10 times more abusive comments on Facebook than their male peers, while Republican women received twice as many as their male counterparts.

Women lawmakers who are also ethnic minorities are particularly likely to face abuse, the study found. Among those targeted most often were Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who called out a culture of “accepting violence and violent language against women” during a 2020 House floor speech after a GOP lawmaker’s verbal assault.

GOP women also are targets. The study found that during a two-week period, nearly one-third of the tweets directed at Sen. Susan Collins of Maine were abusive. With the exception of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who received a higher-than-usual percentage of abusive tweets, between 5% and 10% of tweets directed toward men studied were abusive.

A State and Local Government Review survey of mayors in communities with over 30,000 residents found 79% of mayors reported being a victim of harassment, threats or other psychological abuse, and 13% reported instances of physical violence. Gender was the biggest predictor of whether mayors would be victims, with female mayors more than twice as likely as male mayors to face psychological abuse, and nearly three times as likely to experience physical violence.

Illinois state Sen. Deb Conroy has experienced such abuse firsthand. The Democrat from suburban Chicago received death threats after a conservative blog last month misrepresented a bill she is sponsoring, reporting inaccurately that it could lead to quarantining people who test positive for COVID-19.

Conroy started receiving voicemails with people calling her gendered slurs and saying things like “get back in the kitchen” and “you’re going to get what you deserve.” A commenter on Facebook said he hopes she sleeps with a gun under her pillow so she’s ready for what’s coming.

Conroy, who had to close her office, work with authorities to remove her address from the internet and cancel public events, said the vitriol in politics “exponentially changed” when Donald Trump became president.

“All of a sudden, it was OK to say the most hateful things that you normally would keep to yourself,” she said.

The vitriol also intensified during the pandemic, and as some Trump supporters believed the lie that he won the 2020 election.

Amanda Hunter, executive director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, traces much of the change to the rise of social media. Years ago, if someone wanted to verbally attack a lawmaker, they had to track down their address and perhaps mail a letter. Today, it’s relatively easy to reach someone via Twitter, Facebook, email or other methods — often in their homes or on their phones.

That’s created another structural barrier to running for office, particularly in lower levels of government where the jobs don’t come with a security detail or budget, said Hunter. The Barbara Lee Family Foundation works to increase women’s representation in politics.

“This is now another decision that women have to factor in when deciding whether or not to run for office, if they want to contend with weighing potential security threats against them or perhaps even their families,” she said.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged social media companies to do more to crack down on the online abuse. They also say there is power in drawing attention to the attacks — something some women once worried made them appear weak — and in calling out the attackers.

For Whitmer, the abuse continued even after federal charges were filed against the six men in the kidnapping plot in October 2020.

After one of the men pleaded guilty last year, she told a judge in a victim impact statement that she has seen herself hung in effigy during a protest and heavily armed people near her home. At one protest there was a sign calling for “burning the witch.”

“Things will never be the same,” she wrote.

___

Burnett reported from Chicago.

Putin says sanctions over Ukraine are like a declaration of war

IMAGE SOURCE,EPAImage caption,
Mr Putin was meeting Aeroflot flight attendants near Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described sanctions imposed by Western nations over his invasion of Ukraine as "akin to a declaration of war".

"But thank God it has not come to that," he added.

Mr Putin also warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be seen as participation in the armed conflict.

And he rejected suggestions that he would introduce a state of emergency or martial law in Russia.

Mr Putin made the remarks while speaking to a group of women flight attendants at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow.

Since the start of Russia's invasion 10 days ago, the West has imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of Mr Putin's foreign assets and the exclusion of a number of Russian banks from the Swift international payments system.

In addition, many multinational firms have ceased operations in Russia, On Saturday, Zara, Paypal and Samsung became the latest global brands to suspend trading there.

The economic measures have already caused the rouble to plunge in value and forced the Russian central bank to double interest rates.

In his latest comments, Mr Putin sought to justify the war in Ukraine, repeating his assertion that he was seeking to defend Russian speaking communities there through the "demilitarisation and de-Nazification" of the country.

Responding to Western defence analysts' allegations that the Russian military campaign was going less well than expected, he said: "Our army will fulfil all the tasks. I don't doubt that at all. Everything is going to plan."

He added that only professional soldiers were taking part in the hostilities and there were no conscripts involved, despite reports to the contrary.

The Russian leader said efforts to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be considered by Russia to be a step into the military conflict and those responsible would be treated as enemy combatants.

"The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood," he added.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Nato for ruling out the no-fly zone. However, Western leaders say introducing the measure would be an escalation.

Mr Putin also said he had no plans to declare martial law in Russia. adding that such a step would only be taken in "instances of external aggression, in defined areas of military activity".

"But we don't have such a situation and I hope we won't have one," he said.



There had been rumours that Mr Putin was planning to declare martial law, which is when normal civil law is suspended or the military takes control of government functions.

He said there were other special emergency states which could be used in the case of a "large-scale external threat", but that he had no plans to introduce these either.

Meanwhile, diplomatic moves have continued on the sidelines of the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Mr Putin in Moscow on Saturday and had a three-hour discussion on the war.

Mr Bennett then headed to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. As an Orthodox Jew, he broke Shabbat in order to travel, which is allowed under Jewish law if human life is at stake.

Although Israel is a key ally of the US, Mr Bennett has tried to preserve a good relationship with Russia. Ukraine's President Zelensky, who is Jewish, has called on Israel to mediate in the crisis.

And the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has met Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, telling him he was in awe of his courage in standing up to Russia.

The two men met on the Polish-Ukraine border. Mr Kuleba reiterated his desire and optimism for more military backing from Nato, including a no-fly zone.

'Bayraktar!': Ukrainian army shares song celebrating Turkish-made drone fighting back at Russian invasion

The New Arab Staff
02 March, 2022
#BayraktarTB2 trends on social media platforms as the official page of the Ukrainian army shared a song celebrating the Turkish-made drone in their fight against the Russian invasion.


The Bayraktar TB2 drone is produced by Turkish defence company Baykar [Anadolu via Getty]

Ukraine’s armed forces have shared a song dedicated to the Bayraktar TB2, a Turkish-made armed drone that has been a key weapon in Ukraine's fight against the invading Russian army.

The catchy song was shared on the official Facebook page of the "Land Forces of Ukraine".

The lyrics include the promise of “Bayraktar's punishment in the name of Ukrainian children, Georgians, Syrians, Chechens, and Crimean Tatars”. This likely refers to Russia's long list of military invasions and operations against various countries and communities in recent years.

The song is going viral on social media, with dozens of users sharing the song alongside the hashtag #BayraktarTB2.

Many of the tweets include footage of the drones purportedly destroying Russian targets as Moscow tries to take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 armed drones at work. The Russian BUK was destroyed in the area of Malina Zhytomyr region. — Ukrainian military

Bayraktar TB2 were supplied by Turkey. And they are working very smoothly against the Russian weaponry
pic.twitter.com/n5uzsyJGbK — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 27, 2022

Ukraine and Turkey have been close defence partners over the past few years. Baykar, the company that produces the TB2 drones, has close ties to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was meant to build a plant to produce these weapons within Ukraine.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said Wednesday that it had received and deployed a new batch of the drones but did not say how many it had received.

Ukrainian drone enthusiasts sign up to repel Russian forces

By MATT O'BRIEN

In better times, Ukrainian drone enthusiasts flew their gadgets into the sky to photograph weddings, fertilize soybean fields or race other drones for fun. Now some are risking their lives by forming a volunteer drone force to help their country repel the Russian invasion.

“Kyiv needs you and your drone at this moment of fury!” read a Facebook post late last week from the Ukrainian military, calling for citizens to donate hobby drones and to volunteer as experienced pilots to operate them.

One entrepreneur who runs a retail store selling consumer drones in the capital said its entire stock of some 300 drones made by Chinese company DJI has been dispersed for the cause. Others are working to get more drones across the border from friends and colleagues in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

“Why are we doing this? We have no other choice. This is our land, our home,” said Denys Sushko, head of operations at Kyiv-based industrial drone technology company DroneUA, which before the war was helping to provide drone services to farmers and energy companies.

Sushko fled his home late last week after his family had to take cover from a nearby explosion. He spoke to The Associated Press by phone and text message Friday after climbing up a tree for better reception.

“We try to use absolutely everything that can help protect our country and drones are a great tool for getting real-time data,” said Sushko, who doesn’t have a drone with him but is providing expertise. “Now in Ukraine no one remains indifferent. Everyone does what they can.”

Unlike the much larger Turkish-built combat drones that Ukraine has in its arsenal, off-the-shelf consumer drones aren’t much use as weapons — but they can be powerful reconnaissance tools. Civilians have been using the aerial cameras to track Russian convoys and then relay the images and GPS coordinates to Ukrainian troops. Some of the machines have night vision and heat sensors.

But there’s a downside: DJI, the leading provider of consumer drones in Ukraine and around the world, provides a tool that can easily pinpoint the location of an inexperienced drone operator, and no one really knows what the Chinese firm or its customers might do with that data. That makes some volunteers uneasy. DJI declined to discuss specifics about how it has responded to the war.

Taras Troiak, a dealer of DJI drones who started the Kyiv retail store, said DJI has been sending mixed signals about whether it’s providing preferential access to — or disabling — its drone detection platform AeroScope, which both sides of the conflict can potentially use to monitor the other’s flight paths and the communication links between a drone and the device that’s controlling it.

DJI spokesperson Adam Lisberg said wartime uses were “never anticipated” when the company created AeroScope to give policing and aviation authorities — including clients in both Russia and Ukraine — a window into detecting drones flying in their immediate airspace. He said some users in Ukraine have reported technical problems but DJI has not disabled the tool or given preferential access.

In the meantime, Ukrainian drone experts said they’ve been doing whatever they can to teach operators how to protect their whereabouts.

“There are a number of tricks that allow you to increase the level of security when using them,” Sushko said.

This 2022 aerial image provided by Ukrainian security forces, taken by a drone and shown on a screen, shows a blown-up building near the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. The exact date and time of the image are unknown. In better times, Ukrainian drone enthusiasts flew their gadgets into the sky to photograph weddings, fertilize soybean fields or race other drones for fun. Now some are risking their lives by forming a volunteer drone force to help their country repel the Russian invasion. 

(Ukrainian Security Forces via AP)

Sushko said many in the industry are now trying to get more small drones — including DJI alternatives — transported into Ukraine from neighboring European countries. They can also be used to assist search-and-rescue operations.

Ukraine has a thriving community of drone experts, some of whom were educated at the National Aviation University or the nearby Kyiv Polytechnic University and went on to found local drone and robotics startups.

“They’ve got this homebuilt industry and all these smart people who build drones,” said Faine Greenwood, a U.S.-based consultant on drones for civic uses such as disaster response.

Troiak’s DJI-branded store in Kyiv, which is now shuttered as city residents take shelter, was a hub for that community because it runs a maintenance center and hosts training sessions and a hobby club. Even the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, once paid a visit to the store to buy a drone for one of his children, Troiak said.

A public drone-focused Facebook group administered by Troiak counts more than 15,000 members who have been trading tips about how to assist Ukrainian troops. One drone photographer who belongs to the Ukrainian Association of Drone Racing team told The Associated Press he decided to donate his DJI Mavic drone to the military rather than try to fly it himself. He and others asked not to be named out of fear for their safety.

“The risk to civilian drone operators inside Ukraine is still great,” said Australian drone security expert Mike Monnik. “Locating the operator’s location could result in directed missile fire, given what we’ve seen in the fighting so far. It’s no longer rules of engagement as we have had in previous conflicts.” In recent days, Russian-language channels on the messaging app Telegram have featured discussions on ways to find Ukrainian drones, Monnik said.

Some in Ukraine’s drone community already have experience deploying their expertise in conflict zones because of the country’s long-running conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Monnik’s firm, DroneSec, has tracked multiple instances just in the past year of both sides of that conflict arming small drones with explosives. One thing that Ukrainians said they’ve learned is that small quadcopter drones, such as those sold at stores, are rarely effective at hitting a target with explosive payloads.

“It would seem somewhat short-sighted to waste one,” said Greenwood, the consultant based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “I assume the chief goal would be recon. But if things are getting desperate, who knows.”

DJI also has experience in responding to warfighters trying to weaponize its drones and used so-called “geofencing” technology to block drone movements during conflicts in Syria and Iraq. It’s not clear yet if it will do the same in Ukraine; even if it does, there are ways to work around it.

Small civilian drones are no match against Russian combat power but will likely become increasingly important in a protracted war, leaving drone-makers no option to be completely neutral. Any action they take or avoid is “indirectly taking a side,” said P.W. Singer, a New America fellow who wrote a book about war robots.

“We will see ad-hoc arming of these small civilian drones much the way we’ve seen that done in conflicts around the world from Syria to Iraq and Yemen and Afghanistan,” Singer said. “Just like an IED or a Molotov cocktail, they won’t change the tide of battle but they will definitely make it difficult for Russian soldiers.”

——

AP video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.

Cracks starting to show in Vladimir Putin's Ukraine plans

news.com.au

By Jamie Seidel

4 Mar, 2022

The cracks are beginning to show. Vladimir Putin's plans are fraying around the edges. Now he's doubling down on staying in control.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Russia's special forces, paratroops and elite tank units were meant to surround Ukraine's key cities within two days. Their citizens were supposed to revolt, welcoming Russian troops as liberators. The rest of Moscow's forces would then secure key strategic sites – their menacing presence warning the West to back off.

Russian soldiers thought they were just taking part in another exercise. Photo / Getty Image

But Russian President Vladimir Putin's dream has become a nightmare.

Ukraine's cities are holding out.

Citizens are resisting with determination.

Its military remains a coherent – if battered – force to reckon with.

"He underestimated his opposition, overestimated the capability of his own forces. So now we are clearly on Plan B," Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) president Richard Haass told US media this morning.

And that's exposed the incredibly flimsy foundations of Putin's war plans.

His troops didn't know.

They believed they were taking part in just another exercise. Even the mid-level commanders crucial for the planning and preparing were kept in the dark.

Others raced into Ukraine with the expectation of being a peacekeeping force. Not the cutting-edge of a full-blown invasion.

They were there to "de-nazify" the Kyiv government. They were there to "disarm" those responsible for the "genocide" of the Russian ethnic group.

Now they know none of it was true.

"This has got to be Putin's nightmare," says Haas. "Essentially, he depends upon his security forces – not just the soldiers but also inside the country. That's an autocrat's nightmare – as protests begin to mount that the security forces either get overwhelmed or show sympathy with the protesters."

The signs of stress are there. But the cracking point remains unknown

"There are clear reasons to be sceptical of claims that Putin will soon be deposed in a palace coup – or that the existing elite could be removed by mass protests," adds University College London (UCL) professor of Russian politics Ben Noble. "[But] Putin has staked his survival on this."

Appeal for unity

Overnight, Putin's personal press secretary urged Russians to "unite".

"Now is not the time to be divided," Dmitry Peskov told state-controlled media. "Now is the time to unite, to unite around our president."

He was responding to a question about high-profile opposition to the war.

That he had to do so was odd.

Despite the Kremlin's best efforts to suppress them, protests against the "special operation" in Ukraine are gaining momentum.

"Yes, indeed, there are heated debates among cultural figures," Peskov said. "Many support the president, sincerely the president. And there are those who completely misunderstand the essence of what is happening."

But it's not a war. Nor an invasion. Nor an attack.

Calling it such is against the law.

Casualty figures are also an official state secret.

Russian Federation Council (upper house, or senate) member Lyudmila Narusova overnight dared contradict Putin's message.

She said she knew of a 100-strong company of troops sent into Ukraine. "Only four were left alive," she said.

She added the defence ministry had refused to confirm the casualty report.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin admitted to 498 killed. It has not since updated that figure.

Instead, it's intensified its campaign of information control.

The BBC has been closed. Twitter is banned. Facebook is blocked. All remaining independent Russian newsrooms are offline.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Photo / AP

Amid it all, Putin remains "on message".

This morning he told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that video footage and photographs of Ukraine's bombed cities were "propaganda fakes".

The home front

"I don't think there's any way he can get his original plan back on track because that ship has sailed," Haass said of Putin's position.

"But because he is who he is because he is an autocrat, he has to be infallible. He can never admit that he made a mistake."

And that means an escalation of fighting in Ukraine.

And a clampdown on dissent at home.

"Putin's tenure in the Kremlin is not necessarily dependent upon public opinion," says Aberystwyth University international politics expert Jennifer Mathers.

"But significant shifts in the mood of ordinary Russians will certainly undermine morale. This could cause some of the powerful figures that surround the president to question the wisdom of continuing down the current path, and perhaps also with the current leader."

They were told there would be no war. Now there is.

About 8000 Russians have reportedly been arrested for protesting the invasion. This includes everyone from schoolchildren to elderly war heroes.

Last night, a group of 12,000 healthcare workers delivered a petition addressed to Putin demanding an end to the fighting.

"We, Russian doctors, nurses and paramedics, strongly oppose the military actions carried out by Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine," the petition reads.

"Our relatives, friends, patients and colleagues are located on the attacked territories. There is not a single person among them who would benefit from the ongoing bloodshed."

They join a growing list of prominent Russian individuals and organisations. Chess groups. Theatre companies. Science bodies.

"There are already cases, though, of signatories facing negative consequences, including losing their jobs," says Noble.

"As well as the detentions at protests, this serves as a clear reminder of the bravery of those publicly opposing the war."

A matter of morale

Putin's most significant oversight may be his own troops.

The shock of encountering determined, brutal and bloody opposition has proven severe.

Some Russian soldiers are reportedly abandoning their tanks. Multimillion-dollar radar and anti-aircraft missile vehicles are left parked on the side of the road. Armoured personnel carriers sit empty – their fuel tanks drained.

The exact extent of this collapse in coordination and morale is uncertain. But Ukraine is eager to promote each and every example.

"Clearly, they have moral troubles," says Haass. "The Russians aren't used to fighting this kind of war. The equipment looks old. The troops don't look well-trained. They're not motivated. They don't seem to understand what it is they're doing and why."

It's a similar story at home, among spouses, friends and parents.

Putin signed a state decree in 2015 declaring all military deaths a state secret. So families fear the worst when they lose contact.

Ukraine knows this.

"When Russian soldiers are captured, they are allowed to phone their families – both to assure those back home that they are alive but also to convey to them the reality of this war," says Mathers.

"If there is one thing that can effectively counter the Kremlin's narrative ... it is personal knowledge from trusted sources of information – such as the testimony of combatants delivered to their parents. And these parents will share this knowledge with their extended family, with neighbours, with co-workers, and with friends."

 

Putin ‘Surrounded’ by US and NATO Air and Space Power, says AFA Expert Panel


Maj. Gen. Kimberly Crider, former mobilization assistant to the Chief of Space Operations of the United States Space Force, retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, retired Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, AFA president, Air Force Association, participate in a panel on "Strategic Competition in the European Theater," March 3, 2022. Photo by Mike Tsukamoto/AIr Force Magazine.

March 5, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has united NATO and proven a robust U.S. air and space capability that does not require a no-fly zone, but invasion could have been deterred if the U.S. had stronger air power, said experts at an AFA Warfare Symposium panel on the European theater.

“Our Airmen and Guardians surround the Putin regime,” said AFA president and retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright, noting that the Air Force presence extends from the eastern flank of NATO to the far east of Russia in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We have everything we need in the context of watching everything that the Russian military, the Putin regime military is doing today,” said Wright. “He, again, is surrounded, certainly vertically, in a three-dimensional way in the integration of our space and air capabilities.”

Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula highlighted that sanctions did not deter the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

“We’ve lost that conventional deterrent capability,” he said, citing a smaller Air Force than in past decades.

“Sanctions won’t affect current military conditions,” Deptula added. “It’s only U.S. military strength that would have deterred Putin’s aggression.”

Nonetheless, Deptula pointed out that sharing of U.S. Air Force ISR with the Ukrainian Air Force once the conflict began has allowed Ukraine to withstand a 4-to-1 disadvantage in air power with Russia.

“That information sharing gave them the momentum early on,” he said. “And to a significant degree, allows them to deny the Russians air superiority, along with the Russians own demonstrated military and competence.”

In part, Ukraine is using the ISR data to target a miles-long unprotected resupply convoy, firing from an unmanned Turkish TB2 medium-altitude, long-endurence drone. To date, Ukraine has reportedly destroyed some 50 aircraft and 30 helicopters plus a number of drones.

Of Putin’s failure to take control, Deptula remarked: “He’s completely violated the principle tenant of modern warfare being that the first priority has to be securing and maintaining control of the air.”

Retired Maj. Gen. Kimberly A. Crider, who formerly served as Space Force chief technology and innovation officer, said space is already integrated in NATO’s defense and Russia deterrence.

“Vandenberg Space Force Base, [Calif.] has NATO liaison and exchange officers there on the floor of the Combined Space Operations Center working side by side, day to day, every day, coordinating on the needs of those theater operations in support of those combatant operations,” Crider said.

The multinational Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) at Vandenberg also interacts regularly with the emerging NATO Space Center at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

“We know that this is an important capability for sharing information among allied partners, for coordinating support to NATO operations, and we have a very active engagement,” she said.

Moderator and British Air and Space Attaché RAF Air Commodore J.J. Attridge summed up the Russian mindset, which he said has historically been rooted in self-interest.

“Putin’s self-interest has brought the coalition together and NATO [is now] … stronger than before, and it’s unified the world,” he said. “So, thank you, Mr. Putin for that.”

Iran, IAEA hold talks as nuclear negotiations near finish line

Iran’s FM says he will go to Vienna to sign an agreement soon if all of Iran’s red lines are considered in it.

By Maziar Motamedi

Published On 5 Mar 20225 Mar 2022

Tehran, Iran – The head of the global nuclear watchdog and senior Iranian officials have held crucial talks as Iran and world powers are on the verge of restoring their 2015 nuclear deal.

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami in the capital, Tehran, on Saturday.end of list

A major talking point was IAEA safeguards probes, including into several sites where undeclared radioactive materials were found several years ago.

After his meeting with Eslami, the IAEA director told reporters that even as safeguards issues and the JCPOA run parallel to each other, they are closely interrelated.

“It would be difficult to imagine that such an important return to such a comprehensive agreement like JCPOA would be possible if the agency and Iran would not see eye-to-eye on how to resolve these important safeguards issues,” Grossi said.

But both Grossi and Eslami signalled an understanding has been reached on mutual cooperation.

The Iranian nuclear chief said the IAEA will be provided with documentation on “remaining issues” by the third Iranian calendar month in late May without disclosing further details.

‘Will never seek a nuclear bomb’

Iran, which maintains it never had and will never seek a nuclear bomb, believes the issue of the possible military dimensions of its nuclear programme should be laid to rest as it was resolved during the original JCPOA talks.

Iranian officials have previously referred to issues relating to the probe as “political demands” by the West that need to be let go if the Vienna talks are to be successful.

Earlier this week, Grossi had said he will “never” abandon the safeguards probe due to a political reason, saying “the only way these issues will go away is if they are clarified to the full satisfaction of the IAEA”.

The director had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet prior to landing in Tehran, and will reportedly brief him again after his return to the Austrian capital.

Israel, the strictest opponent of the nuclear accord and its restoration, which maintains Iran is after a nuclear weapon, has repeatedly said it wants the probe to remain open.

Grossi landed in Tehran late on Friday and wrote in a tweet that “this is a critical time, but a positive outcome for everyone is possible”.

Saturday’s developments come as an announcement on the success – or breakdown – of the Vienna talks is expected shortly.

Ready to sign

Iran’s foreign minister on Friday told the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that he will go to Vienna to sign an agreement soon if all of Iran’s red lines are considered.

In addition to dropping the IAEA inquiry, Iran has also demanded the lifting of a wide scope of sanctions, including a “foreign terrorist organisation” designation on its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, guarantees that the US will not renege on the deal again, and a mechanism to verify effective lifting of sanctions.

On Friday, the chief negotiators of the so-called E3 – France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – went back to their capitals to keep their foreign ministers abreast of the latest developments in preparation for a final announcement.

But Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, stayed in Vienna to continue holding talks with his counterparts from Russia and China.

The latest of confidential reports by the IAEA – which are regularly leaked to Western media outlets despite Iranian objections – said on Thursday that Iran has produced 33.2 kilogrammes (73 pounds) of 60 percent enriched uranium, up from 17.7kg (39 pounds) in early November when the previous report was released.

Iran had committed to cap its uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent and limit its stockpile to 202.8kg (447 pounds) until 2031 under the JCPOA, but gradually abandoning those limits a year after the US withdrew from it.

Russian troops fought for control of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine – a safety expert explains how warfare and nuclear power are a volatile combination

War, in my opinion, is the worst enemy of nuclear safety.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, points to the training facility hit by Russian artillery at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. AP Photo/Lisa Leutner

Published: March 4, 2022 

Russian forces have taken control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant after shelling the Zaporizhzhia facility in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar.

The overnight assault caused a blaze at the facility, prompting fears over the safety of the plant and evoking painful memories in a country still scarred by the world’s worst nuclear accident, at Chernobyl in 1986. The site of that disaster is also under Russian control as of Feb. 24, 2022.

On March 4, Ukrainian authorities reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency that the fire at Zaporizhzhia had been extinguished and that Ukrainian employees were reportedly operating the plant under Russian orders. But safety concerns remain.

The Conversation asked Najmedin Meshkati, a professor and nuclear safety expert at the University of Southern California, to explain the risks of warfare taking place in and around nuclear power plants.
How safe was the Zaporizhzhia power plant before the Russian attack?

The facility at Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear plant in Europe, and one of the largest in the world. It has six pressurized water reactors, which use water to both sustain the fission reaction and cool the reactor. These differ from the reaktor bolshoy moshchnosty kanalny reactors at Chernobyl, which used graphite instead of water to sustain the fission reaction. RBMK reactors are not seen as very safe, and there are only eight remaining in use in the world, all in Russia.

The reactors at Zaporizhzhia are of moderately good design. And the plant has a decent safety record, with a good operating background.

Ukraine authorities tried to keep the war away from the site by asking Russia to observe a 30-kilometer safety buffer. But Russian troops surrounded the facility and then seized it.

REMEMBER THE 'PEACEFUL' USE OF ATOMIC POWER

What are the risks to a nuclear plant in a conflict zone?

Nuclear power plants are built for peacetime operations, not wars.

The worst thing that could happen is if a site is deliberately or accidentally shelled and the containment building – which houses the nuclear reactor – is hit. These containment buildings are not designed or built for deliberate shelling. They are built to withstand a minor internal explosion of, say, a pressurized water pipe. But they are not designed to withstand a huge explosion.

It is not known whether the Russian forces deliberately shelled the Zaporizhzhia plant. It may have been inadvertent, caused by a stray missile. But we do know they wanted to capture the plant.
Tracer rounds and flames can be seen in this video of the fight for control of the nuclear power plant.

If a shell hit the plant’s spent fuel pool – which contains the still-radioactive spent fuel – or if fire spread to the spent fuel pool, it could release radiation. This spent fuel pool isn’t in the containment building, and as such is more vulnerable.

As to the reactors in the containment building, it depends on the weapons being used. The worst-case scenario is that a bunker-buster missile breaches the containment dome – consisting of a thick shell of reinforced concrete on top of the reactor – and explodes. That would badly damage the nuclear reactor and release radiation into the atmosphere. And because of any resulting fire, sending in firefighters would be difficult. It could be another Chernobyl.
What are the concerns going forward?

The biggest worry was not the fire at the facility. That did not affect the containment buildings and has been extinguished.

The safety problems I see now are twofold:

1) Human error

The workers at the facility are now working under incredible stress, reportedly at gunpoint. Stress increases the chance of error and poor performance.

One concern is that the workers will not be allowed to change shifts, meaning longer hours and tiredness. We know that a few days ago at Chernobyl, after the Russians took control of the site, they did not allow employees – who usually work in three shifts – to swap out. Instead, they took some workers hostage and didn’t allow the other workers to attend their shifts.

At Zaporizhzhia we may see the same.

There is a human element in running a nuclear power plant – operators are the first and last layers of defense for the facility and the public. They are the first people to detect any anomaly and to stop any incident. Or if there’s an accident, they will be the first to heroically try to contain it.

2) Power failure

The second problem is that the nuclear plant needs constant electricity, and that is harder to maintain in wartime.

Even if you shut down the reactors, the plant will need off-site power to run the huge cooling system to remove the residual heat in the reactor and bring it to what is called a “cold shutdown.” Water circulation is always needed to make sure the spent fuel doesn’t overheat.

Spent fuel pools also need constant circulation of water to keep them cool. And they need cooling for several years before being put in dry casks. One of the problems in the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan was the emergency generators, which replaced lost off-site power, got inundated with water and failed. In situations like that you get “station blackout” – and that is one of the worst things that could happen. It means no electricity to run the cooling system.

Spent nuclear fuel rods are stored at the bottom of this pool, which requires constant circulation. Guillaume Souvant/AFP via Getty Images

In that circumstance, the spent fuel overheats and its zirconium cladding can cause hydrogen bubbles. If you can’t vent these bubbles they will explode, spreading radiation.

If there is a loss of outside power, operators will have to rely on emergency generators. But emergency generators are huge machines – finicky, unreliable gas guzzlers. And you still need cooling waters for the generators themselves.

My biggest worry is that Ukraine suffers from a sustained power grid failure. The likelihood of this increases during a conflict, because pylons may come down under shelling or gas power plants might get damaged and cease to operate. And it is unlikely that Russian troops themselves will have fuel to keep these emergency generators going – they don’t seem to have enough fuel to run their own personnel carriers.

How else does a war affect the safety of nuclear plants?

One of the overarching concerns is that war degrades safety culture, which is crucial in running a plant. I believe that safety culture is analogous to the human body’s immune system, which protects against pathogens and diseases; and because of the pervasive nature of safety culture and its widespread impact, according to psychologist James Reason, “it can affect all elements in a system for good or ill.”

It is incumbent upon the leadership of the plant to strive for immunizing, protecting, maintaining and nurturing the healthy safety culture of the nuclear plant.

War adversely affects the safety culture in a number of ways. Operators are stressed and fatigued and may be scared to death to speak out if something is going wrong. Then there is the maintenance of a plant, which may be compromised by lack of staff or unavailability of spare parts. Governance, regulation and oversight – all crucial for the safe running of a nuclear industry – are also disrupted, as is local infrastructure, such as the capability of local firefighters. In normal times you might have been able to extinguish the fire at Zaporizhzhia in five minutes. But in war, everything is harder.
So what can be done to better protect Ukraine’s nuclear power plants?

This is an unprecedented and volatile situation. The only solution is a no-fight zone around nuclear plants. War, in my opinion, is the worst enemy of nuclear safety.

Author

Najmedin Meshkati
Professor of Engineering and International Relations, University of Southern California
Disclosure statement
Najmedin Meshkati received research funding from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC in mid-1990s.


Ukraine power plant videos show staff imploring Russian troops to ‘stop firing’

Loudspeaker can be heard warning soldiers outside the Zaporizhzhia plant — the biggest nuclear facility in Europe — that they’re ‘endangering safety of the entire world’

By TOI STAFF and AGENCIES

Today,

Workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant pleading with Russian soldiers to stop firing at the facility, on March 4, 2022. (Screenshot/Twitter)

Videos released Saturday showed staff at an atomic power plant in Ukraine pleading with invading Russian troops to stop firing at the complex, an incident that sparked fury from Ukrainian and Western officials.

The videos appeared to show one of the operational rooms inside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, with a loudspeaker heard warning the Russian soldiers outside.

“Stop firing at the nuclear facility,” a voice said. “Immediately stop firing. You are endangering the safety of the entire world. The operation of a crucial part of Zaporizhzhia’s plant could be damaged. We will not be able to restore it.”

The six reactors at Zaporizhzhia, which can power four million homes, appeared undamaged by the fighting and a fire that broke out in a training facility on Friday.

As a precautionary measure, Ukrainian authorities were distributing iodine tablets to residents living near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor.

The New York Times said a fire that erupted at the site blazed some 1500 feet (500 meters) from the site’s nearest reactor.

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he was prepared to travel to Ukraine to ensure the security of the country’s nuclear facilities.

He told the Security Council that a “projectile” hit a building adjacent to a block of six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, sparking a fire that didn’t affect its operation, although he stressed there is nothing normal when military forces are in charge of the site.

Grossi has repeatedly stressed that any military or other action that could threaten the safety or security of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants must be avoided.

“I remain gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, especially about the country’s nuclear power plants, which must be able to continue operating without any safety or security threats,” he said.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks at a press conference about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine in Vienna, Austria, on Friday, March 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)

“Any accident caused as a result of the military conflict could have extremely serious consequences for people and the environment, in Ukraine and beyond.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a call with US senators that Russian forces have now seized two Ukrainian nuclear power plants and are advancing toward a third — the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Mykolaiv, one of several cities the Russians were trying to keep encircled.

Ukraine has four nuclear plants with a total of 15 reactors.

What happened in Ukraine nuclear plant? West says Russia attacked, Russia blames Ukraine

The head of the UN nuclear agency reaffirmed that no reactors were hit

By PTI Updated: March 05, 2022 

An image from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Authority shows multiple blasts from Russian shelling | AFP

The United States and its allies have accused Russia of attacking Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant and putting the lives of millions of Europeans at risk of radiation fallout, but Russia claimed a "Ukrainian sabotage group was responsible for setting fire to a nearby training facility.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after photos of a burning building sent shock waves around the world of a possible nuclear disaster on Friday, the head of the UN nuclear agency reaffirmed that no reactors were hit and the Zaporizhzhia plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar was operating normally.

But International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi didn't say who was responsible for firing a projectile that hit a building adjacent to a block of six reactors at the plant sparking a fire.

He said the IAEA was informed a few days ago by Russia that its forces were moving to take control of the plant.

Their advance toward its perimeter was met with opposition and some group of civilians attacking the access to the plant, he said, and early Friday the IAEA got information that a projectile had impacted a building adjacent to the block of reactors six of them.

For Ukraine and Western countries and allies on the Security Council there was no question that Russia was responsible for firing the projectile. The emergency meeting was called by the US, UK, France, Norway, Ireland, and Albania.

Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said Russia's reckless attack marked the first time that any country has attacked a fuelled and functioning nuclear power plant.

In doing so, she said, it had breached international law and the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war which states that dams, dykes, and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield opened her remarks saying: By the grace of God, the world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night.

She called Russia's attack incredibly reckless and dangerous, saying it threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and Europe.

Dr Alex Rosen, a pediatrician and vice-president of the German affiliate of the Nobel prize-winning group International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, said the attack clearly shows the danger of fighting war in a nuclear state.

Had the projectile hit a spent fuel pond at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant or one of its six reactors, the prevalent winds Friday morning could have spread radioactive fallout toward the southeast, across the Azov Sea straight into Russia, engulfing the city of Rostov and continuing toward Georgia, Rosen said in an interview.

Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia rejected claims that its military forces attacked the plant as simply untrue and part of an unprecedented campaign of lies and disinformation against Russia.

He claimed Russia took control of Enerhodar and the Zaporizhzhia on February 28 and reached agreement with the plant's management for the Russian military to guard the facility to ensure its security to prevent the Ukrainian nationalist or other terrorist forces from taking advantage of the current situation to organise a nuclear provocation.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, he said, a Russian mobile patrol in the area adjacent to the plant on Thursday night was attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage group with heavy small arms fire from the windows of several floors of a training complex just outside the nuclear plant in order to provoke return fire.

The Russians returned fire and suppressed their fire, he said, and as they were leaving, the Ukrainian sabotage group set fire to the training facility.

For Russia and Belarus which as neighbours lived through the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Nebenzia said, maintaining a normal radiation situation throughout Ukraine is important. And he again blamed Ukrainian nationalists for the incident at the plant and accused the West of attempting to blow it into a global scandal.

Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Russia of committing an act of nuclear terrorism by shelling the nuclear power plant and dismissed as lies Nebenzia's claim that a Ukrainian sabotage group was responsible for setting fire to a training facility at the plant.

He said the Russian ambassador may not be properly informed by his government.

Kyslytsya expressed disappointment that the IAEA's Grossi did not include any mention of the attacking side.

We demand clear and decisive action from the IAEA, he said.

The international community must respond adequately to the actions of the Russian Federation, which could lead to an unprecedented nuclear catastrophe.

The Zaporizhzhia plant is currently under control of the Russian armed forces, Kyslytsya said. While there have been no changes in radiation levels, Kyslytsya said several buildings are damaged and the telephone connection to the plant is disrupted and not available at the moment. 

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