WAR IN UKRAINE: September 7, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 196
Fresh shelling has knocked out power and water in the town near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in war-torn southeastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, another Moscow-appointed official in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory has been attacked and is now in the hospital in serious condition - RFE/RL
Separately, the International Atomic Energy Agency called for a demilitarized zone around the Zaporyzhzhia plant. Tuesday's IAEA report arrives amid increasing concerns about the plant's safety and security. It called the situation unsustainable and warned of damage to a building that houses fresh nuclear fuel and a radioactive waste storage facility. Aside of calling for a protection zone around the plant, it recommended an improvement of staff conditions, and the end of military activities that have damaged the plant's source of electricity. Said Rafael Grossi, Director General, IAEA: “The physical attack, wittingly or unwittingly, the hits that this facility has received and that I could personally see and assess, together with my experts, is simply unacceptable. We are playing with fire. And something very, very catastrophic could take place.”
In another sign of how the rich and connected in Ukraine are gaming the system, a Ukrainian TV investigative program has found that the son of pro-Russian activist Andrii Portnov, 29-year-old Ihor Portnov, received a temporary permit to leave Ukraine in March as a ‘humanitarian aid volunteer,’ after which he left for Poland and has not returned since then. The elder Portonov was head of the Presidential Administration under the disgraced Viktor Yanukovych. Under martial law regulations, with very few exceptions Ukrainian males between the age of 18 and 60 are forbidden to leave the country. A few weeks ago at a restaurant in Warsaw, I overheard a Ukrainian man (clearly under 60) boast to his American dinner guests about how he was able to cross the border freely by declaring himself a volunteer for humanitarian purposes. He was clearly using the exemption to conduct his business affairs.
Liz Truss has accepted Volodymyr Zelensky’s invitation to visit him in Ukraine, Downing Street says. In a statement, No 10 says the new PM reiterated the UK’s “steadfast support for Ukraine’s freedom and democracy. In her first call with a counterpart since becoming prime minister, she reiterated to the Ukrainian leader that he had her full backing, and Ukraine could depend on the UK’s assistance for the long term.” It goes on to say Truss "looked forward to working with the President in the coming weeks and months and was delighted to accept an invitation to visit [him] in Ukraine soon” - BBC
A declassified U.S. intelligence assessment says Russia is acquiring millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea, in an indication of the effect that Western sanctions are having on the Russian war effort - RFE/RL
Very little about day-to-day life seems to have changed in Moscow, where people have the financial resources to weather significant price increases, unlike much of the rest of the country. GUM, the luxury mall next to Red Square, is full of shoppers — though many Western stores like Prada, Gucci and Christian Dior are closed — and restaurants and theaters do thriving business. Moscow’s roads still teem with luxury cars like Lamborghinis and Porsches. That detachment is exactly what President Vladimir V. Putin is counting on as he executes a domestic strategy of shielding Russians from the hardships of war — no draft, no mass funerals, no feelings of loss or conflict. Much of Russia’s effort on the battlefield has not gone as Mr. Putin had planned, but at home, he has mostly succeeded in making Russian life feel as normal as possible. Read the full New York Times article here
A satellite photo (below) dated September 5, 2022 of the destroyed pontoon bridge near Darivka in the Kherson region has been obtained by the Ukrainian TV investigative program, Schemes. The satellite recorded the destroyed pontoon bridge near the village of Darivka, Kherson region, which Russian forces used to cross the Inhulets River.
Required reading…
Moscow’s recklessness at Zaporizhzhia could cause a nuclear catastrophe
If there’s one takeaway from Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine more than six months in, it’s that old Kremlin habits persist, no matter how threatening to humanity’s existence.
We saw that just a few days into the invasion when Russian troops took over the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, site of the 1986 disaster, by installing their own officials, ransacking staff quarters and ordering soldiers to dig trenches in highly radioactive soil – nearly 36 years later it’s still one of the most nuclear-contaminated areas in the world.
Read my full Globe and Mail opinion piece here