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Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations on Monday that part would bomb Europe’s largest nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Russia claimed that the Ukrainian bombardment caused an increase in force and fire and forced the workers’ corps to reduce production of two reactors, while Ukraine blamed Russian troops for stockpiling weapons there.
Nuclear experts have warned that further bombing of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which captured Russia at the start of the war, is riddled with traps.
The Kremlin echoed Monday’s response, saying Kyiv attacked the factory and urged Western powers to stop this.
“The bombing of the territory of the nuclear force plant by the Ukrainian armed forces is very dangerous,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It is fraught with catastrophic consequences for vast territories, for all of Europe. “
Ukrainian army intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov responded that Russian forces placed explosives at the plant to prevent an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in the area. Earlier, Ukrainian officials said Russia was launching attacks from the ukrainian factory and personnel as human shields.
Yusov called on Russia to “make a gesture of goodwill and cede the plant to a foreign commission and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), if not to the Ukrainian military. “
Ukrainian mediator Dmytro Lubinets also suggested to the United Nations, the IAEA and the foreign network to send a delegation to “completely demilitarize the territory” and provide promises of protection to workers at the factory and the city where the plant, Enerhodar, is located.
He accused Russia of “nuclear terrorism. “
The IAEA is the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Its chief executive, Rafael Grossi, told The Associated Press last week that the scenario around the Zaporizhzhia plant “is absolutely out of control” and issued a pressing call to Russia and Ukraine to allow experts to stop at the compound in order to stabilize the scenario and a nuclear accident.
U. N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke out in favor of the concept on Monday, saying “any attack on a nuclear power plant is suicidal. “
A nuclear materials expert at Imperial College London said the Zaporizhzhia reactor is all the rage and houses a heavily reinforced metal and concrete internal construction designed to withstand disasters.
“As such, I don’t think there’s a huge chance of a breach in the containment building, even if it was accidentally hit through an explosive projectile, let alone that the reactor itself could be damaged,” Mark Wenman said. University nuclear power futures.
He also said the spent fuel tanks at the compound, where the projectiles allegedly hit, are counterfeit and don’t involve much spent fuel.
“While this might seem troubling and any nuclear fighting is illegal under foreign laws, the likelihood of a serious nuclear release is still low,” he said.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday’s attack caused a surge in force and smoke, prompting a lockdown. Fire crews extinguished the flames and the plant reduced the power of reactors No. 5 and No. 6 to 500 megawatts, he said. .
And the head of the Ukrainian company that operates the plant said that all the lines of force connecting it to the Ukrainian force formula had been destroyed. Petro Kotin, head of the Ukrainian state-owned company eherhoatom, blamed the Russian bombing and said a force disruption would be “very damaging to such a nuclear facility. “
As fighting continued on the war front, the United States on Monday pledged new billion-dollar military aid to Ukraine. This would be the largest shipment to date of rockets, ammunition and other weapons from U. S. Department of Defense reserves for Ukrainian forces. .
The most recent announcement brings overall U. S. security to $9. 1 billion. The U. S. has committed through the Biden administration to Ukraine since the invasion of Russian troops on Feb. 24.
Ukraine’s presidential office said the Russians had bombed seven Ukrainian regions in the past 24 hours, killing five more people. and the power lines were no longer working there, leaving thousands of people without electricity.
Russian rockets and artillery hit 8 municipalities in the northern Sumy region on Monday, killing one person, the government said.
Ukrainian forces attacked Russian-controlled spaces in the south, officials said, adding the strategic Antonivskiy Bridge in the southern city of Kherson. A Russian army supply artery, the bridge was closed in recent weeks due to previous bombings. On Wednesday they were abandoned, said Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of management of the Kherson region appointed by Moscow.
Meanwhile, one of the shipments that left Ukraine on Friday as part of a deal to unlock grain materials and avert a global food crisis arrived in Turkey, the first shipment loaded to succeed at its destination. The Polarnet, which flew the Turkish flag, loaded with 12,000 tons of corn, docked in the port of Derince.
“This sends a message of hope to all families in the Middle East, Africa and Asia: Ukraine will not abandon them,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. security. “
Twelve ships can now sail under the grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia, which was negotiated through Turkey and the United Nations: 10 left and two entered. Some 322,000 tons of agricultural products left Ukrainian ports, most commonly corn, but also sunflower and soybean oil. .
Four ships that left Ukraine on Sunday were due to anchor near Istanbul on Monday night to be inspected on Tuesday to make sure they were carrying food.
However, the first shipment sent to leave Ukraine, the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, which departed Odessa on August 1, encountered a challenge with delivery. It was heading to Lebanon with 26,000 tons of corn for poultry feed, but the corn customer in Lebanon refused to settle for the shipment because it was delivered much later than its contract, the Ukrainian embassy in Beirut said.
The government of Chilean President Gabriel Boric said On Tuesday it had reactivated efforts to pass a bill that would reduce operating hours in the country and fulfill a crusade promise. The bill, which aims to reduce the workweek from 45 to 40 hours within five years, has stalled in Congress since it was introduced in 2017 through then-lawmaker and current government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo.
An Islamabad court on Tuesday summoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan to face contempt charges next week for his verbal threats instead of sentencing at a rally over the weekend. Pakistani capital overnight and they took him handcuffed for questioning. This is the moment when Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, faces contempt charges.
Photos of Elon Musk from his school years and with his school friend have appeared, courtesy of Jennifer Gwynne, who has now put those never-before-seen photos on sale to raise money for her son-in-law’s tuition. Gwynne reportedly dated Elon Musk in 1994 while they were reading at the University of Pennsylvania and the relationship lasted a year.
As terrorist incidents continue unabated, ongoing talks between the Pakistani government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan detained in Afghanistan are heading for collapse. In July, Pakistan recorded 99 terrorism-related deaths against 102 in June. The rift within the ruling alliance, the bitterness between Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf of Pakistan and the government, and the dire economic situation are preparing to further destabilize the system.
The United States won a sufficient number of programs needed to meet the 65,000 H1-B visa cap imposed by Congress for fiscal year 2023, the country’s federal immigration firm announced Tuesday. The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows U. S. corporations to employ foreign personnel in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Tech corporations are counting on this to hire thousands of employees each year in countries like India and China.
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