WAR IN UKRAINE: February 12, 2023
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 353
Russia appears to be draining an enormous reservoir in Ukraine, imperiling drinking water, agricultural production and safety at Europe's largest nuclear plant, according to satellite data obtained by NPR. Since early November 2022, water has been gushing out of the Kakhovka Reservoir, in Southern Ukraine, through sluice gates at a critical hydroelectric power plant controlled by Russian forces. As a result, satellite data shows that the water level at the reservoir has plummeted to its lowest point in three decades. Separate images provided by the commercial companies Planet and Maxar show water pouring through the gates, and shoreline along the giant reservoir emerging as a result of the rapidly falling water levels. At stake is drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents, irrigation for nearly half-a-million acres of farmland, and the cooling system at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Late last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was aware of the potential risk posed by dropping water levels at the reservoir. "Even though the decreased water level does not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety and security, it may become a source of concern if it is allowed to continue," the IAEA's director General Rafael M. Grossi said in a statement - NPR
One of Ukraine's closest allies has cast doubt on whether it would be able to supply President Volodymyr Zelenksy with the fighter jets he says are needed to win the war with Russia. Poland's President, Andrzej Duda - speaking exclusively to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg - said sending F-16 aircraft would be a "very serious decision" that was "not easy to take". In Warsaw, President Duda told me sending F-16 jets would pose a "serious problem" because, with fewer than 50 of the aircraft in the Polish air force, "we have not enough… and we would need many more of them” - BBC
“Ukraine will be able to become a full member of the European Union in two years. At the same time, after the victory, our country will join NATO,”President Volodymyr Zelensky said. However one senior European legislator told me that there are concerns in some EU countries of the potential drain on EU finances from the massive subsidies that Ukraine would require. On the other hand, it would open up a new market of tens of millions of consumers.
Three more Belarusian activists who were arrested for allegedly damaging railways in the country to disrupt the supply of Russian arms and troops to Ukraine have been sentenced in the eastern city of Mahilyou - RFE/RL
Russia's sports minister said on February 11 that Ukraine's call to ban Russian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which has gathered support from dozens of countries, was "unacceptable."
Required reading…
Grief and conspiracy collide in Russia’s ‘Council of Mothers and Wives’
Russia’s partial draft has sparked outrage. And it’s pushing people into the hands of conspiracy theorists
When Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of reservists to bolster his war in Ukraine, thousands of people of fighting age fledthe country. Protests broke out on the streets, and on the internet. For a brief moment, it appeared Russia might begin to see a unified anti-war movement.
But just like at the start of the invasion, physical resistance to mobilization soon began to fade. Russian resistance to the war today is mostly an online operation, and Telegram has become its central platform. With Facebook and Instagram banned under an “extremism” law, and Russian social media giant VK under almost direct controlof the Kremlin, Telegram has offered a relatively safe harbor where one can find Russians expressing grief, anger and frustration about the war. But this comes right alongside political narratives and disinformation from across the spectrum and plenty of tall tales from the twisted world of conspiracy theories. It is from these foundations that an organization called the Council of Mothers and Wives has sprung into existence.
Read the full Coda Story feature by Amanda Coakley here