On the 9th day of the war in Ukraine, Russia bombed Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on Thursday night. The shots sparked a fire at a power plant in Zaporizhia, central Ukraine. But the security of the plant, invested by the Russians, is “guaranteed”, the director of the site assures. And Ukrainian emergency services said shortly before 6 a.m. that the fire had been “extinguished.” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has condemned Russia’s “nuclear terror” and called for “stronger” sanctions against Moscow. The French nuclear safety authority (ASN) activated its emergency center on Friday in “active standby” mode.
Power plant fire “extinguished”
“The fire was extinguished at 4:20 a.m. (French time),” the Ukrainian emergency service said on its Facebook account. The flames did not reach the sensitive areas, they were transferred to an administrative building and a laboratory.
Moscow has resorted to “nuclear terror”, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky immediately condemned. He accuses the Russians of wanting “repeat“Chernobyl. The worst nuclear accident in history in 1986 is in everyone’s mind. An explosion at a power plant in Zaporozhye in southern Ukraine would be the equivalent of six Chernobyls, President Zelensky said, again urging Europe to intervene to stop the Russian army. The Ukrainian president is also calling for “tougher” sanctions against Moscow after the bombings. This Friday morning, NATO condemned the act and condemned Russia’s “irresponsible” bombings.
Fighting was already taking place on February 24 near the former Chernobyl power plant, about 100 kilometers north of Kyiv, which is now in the hands of Russian troops. The country has 15 nuclear reactors in operation divided into four power plants.
“No increase in radioactivity”
The French nuclear safety authority (ASN) activated its emergency center on Friday in “active standby” mode after Russia’s nightly strikes on a nuclear power plant. According to ASN, this active monitoring work allows him to “intervene in the support and advice of public authorities and prepare for crisis management, while ensuring the mission of informing the public.”
In franceinfo this Friday morning, the Minister of Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili wanted to reassure: “No there is no increase in radioactivity around, which is reassuring, a priori nothing has been touched in the factory, which can be problematic. ”
At the same time, the Independent Research Commission on Radioactivity (Criirad), based in Valence (Drom), ensures that even if the reactors are intact, they could be weakened : “There are many sensitive points in a nuclear power plant – without necessarily reaching the reactor building – and which at different levels can lead to what is called a disaster,” Roland Desbord told France Bleu Drôme Ardèche in a speech at the door. Criirad, confirming that “there are real dangers. We cannot ignore it.”
Boris Johnson calls for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council
Thursday night Vladimir Putin was more inflexible than ever on Russian television, saying his invasion was “going according to plan”. The Elysee edition had many alarming words: “The worst is yet to come,” given that the Russian president’s goal is to invade all of Ukraine. This Friday morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin said this Friday in an interview with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that a peace dialogue with Ukraine is possible only if “all Russian demands” are accepted.
The Russian president reiterated his demands for a “neutral and non-nuclear” status of Ukraine, its “mandatory demilitarization” and its “denazification”, recognition of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and “sovereignty” of pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Lugansk, in their administrative territories, while the rebels currently control only a third of them.
He said he “hopes Kyiv representatives will take a sensible and constructive stance during the third round of talks” scheduled by Kyiv this weekend.
New calls this weekend?
After a second round of talks culminating in the creation of “humanitarian corridors” for the evacuation of civilians, Ukraine is counting on a third round of talks with Russia this weekend, one of Ukraine’s negotiators, Mikhail Podoliak, said on Friday. “The third stage may take place tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we are in constant contact,” he told a news conference in Lviv, western Ukraine, adding that Ukrainians were waiting for the Russians to agree to return to the negotiating table.
G7 countries to impose new “tough sanctions”
The G-7 countries announced on Friday their intention to impose “new tough sanctions” on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and vowed to oppose Russia’s “disinformation campaign”.
“We will continue to impose new tough sanctions in response to Russian aggression,” a joint statement from the G7 foreign ministers said. They also condemned the misinformation “from the Russian government and the media related to it”, whose “constant flow of fictitious allegations puts additional lives at risk.”
Where is the offensive of the Russian troops?
On the ninth day of the Russian attack, the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, remained under Ukrainian control, as did Kharkov (east), despite intense Russian bombing. Russian troops captured Kherson (south) and surrounded several city centers in the region.
“1900 Ukrainians arrived in France”
The effects of this conflict continue to worsen. More than 1.2 million refugees have already fled Ukraine after the invasion of the country on February 24, about half of which were admitted to Poland, according to the latest census by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“1,900 Ukrainians have arrived in France,” French President Urben and Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenk told France Bleu Occitanie this Friday at a meeting at the Interior Ministry as a representative of the metropolises. and big cities. “These are mostly people who have a family, many women with children who come up with the idea of returning to the country as soon as possible,” he added. During this meeting at the Ministry of the Interior this Friday, “it was written that the reception will be centralized by the prefectures of the departments,” said Jean-Luc Mudenck.
Risk of starvation
The World Food Program (WFP) warned on Friday of an impending food crisis in war-torn regions of Ukraine and a risk of worsening world hunger due to disruptions in the production and export of products such as cereals.
The information points to“serious shortage” of food and water in Kyiv and Kharkov (in eastern Ukraine), said in a statement WFP.
“Bullets and bombs in Ukraine could bring the global food crisis to unprecedented levels,” said WFP Director David Beasley, who visited the Polish-Ukrainian border, home to thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
Russia and Ukraine account for 29% of world wheat exports. Serious disruptions in production and exports are likely to lead to rising food prices, which are already the highest ever, according to the WFP. “This will undermine the food security of millions of people,” especially those already on the brink of starvation, “due to high levels of food price inflation in their country,” the WFP said.
Michelin and Microsoft are withdrawing from Russia
The US computer giant Microsoft announced on Friday that it is suspending all new sales of its products and services in Russia, joining a long list of companies that are withdrawing from the country, at least temporarily, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Like the rest of the world, we are appalled, outraged and saddened by the images and information that have come to us since the war in Ukraine, and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Russia,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president in the press. release. on French gastronomic guide Michelin also decided to suspend its activities in Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
Russia is blocking Facebook and tightening the bolts on the media
Russia blocked Facebook on Friday and imposed harsh criminal sanctions against the media for spreading “false information about the military.” The measures taken allow the authorities to strengthen their arsenal to control the story they tell the Russian population of the invasion of Ukraine, presented as a limited operation aimed at protecting Russian-speaking Ukrainians from “genocide”.
The lower house of parliament, the Duma, unanimously passed an amendment that provides for different penalties up to 15 years in prison in the case of dissemination of information aimed at “discrediting” the armed forces. A separate amendment, also adopted Friday, envisions sanctions for “calls for sanctions against Russia”.
These texts, which apply to both the media and Russians and foreigners, were approved by the Upper House on Friday night. They only need the signature of President Vladimir Putin to take effect.
Earlier, the regulator announced that it had restricted access to the BBC, the German international radio and television station Deutsche Welle (DW), the independent Russian website Meduza (based in Riga), Radio Liberty, the Russian branch of RFE / RL, Voice of America and others. unnamed news sites. The BBC reacted by suspending all its journalists in Russia, while the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta said it was “forced to remove a lot of content” to avoid sanctions, but wanted to “keep working”. .
At the same time, the media regulator Roskomnadzor has ordered the immediate blocking of Facebook, accusing him of “discriminating” against Russian media such as the Ministry of Defense, Zvezda TV or the RIA Novosti news agency. AFP reporters in Russia saw that the social network no longer works without a VPN.
8,000 protesters have been arrested in Russia
According to the NGO OVD-Info, more than 8,000 people have been arrested in Russia for demonstrations, particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg (northwest), against the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, the day it was triggered.
Faced with voices opposing the intervention, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that “it is not time to separate, it is time to unite. unite around our president. ”