Anyone else worried about the nuclear saber rattling and talk of armageddon coming from the two nuclear powers. This type of thing being casually discussed on the news and in papers has me very uneasy and was one of the main reasons I have/had major apprehensions about a Russian proxy war.
Not to worry, Speaker McCarthy on the way soon to help, what Putin wants, Putin gets.
Anyone else worried about the nuclear saber rattling and talk of armageddon coming from the two nuclear powers. This type of thing being casually discussed on the news and in papers has me very uneasy and was one of the main reasons I have/had major apprehensions about a Russian proxy war.
Not to worry, Speaker McCarthy on the way soon to help, what Putin wants, Putin gets.
I'm not sure if you are being serious or joking? Anyway what are your thoughts on the viability of this conflict potentially going nuclear and what that means for the world?
Anyone else worried about the nuclear saber rattling and talk of armageddon coming from the two nuclear powers. This type of thing being casually discussed on the news and in papers has me very uneasy and was one of the main reasons I have/had major apprehensions about a Russian proxy war.
Not to worry, Speaker McCarthy on the way soon to help, what Putin wants, Putin gets.
I'm not sure if you are being serious or joking? Anyway what are your thoughts on the viability of this conflict potentially going nuclear and what that means for the world?
It’s not going nuclear. The US just reestablished direct phone contact between defense secretaries. Putin on the rurz’s strategy is the coming winter.
Anyone else worried about the nuclear saber rattling and talk of armageddon coming from the two nuclear powers. This type of thing being casually discussed on the news and in papers has me very uneasy and was one of the main reasons I have/had major apprehensions about a Russian proxy war.
Not to worry, Speaker McCarthy on the way soon to help, what Putin wants, Putin gets.
I'm not sure if you are being serious or joking? Anyway what are your thoughts on the viability of this conflict potentially going nuclear and what that means for the world?
McCarthy stated he was against continuing Ukraine funding. So nuclear nations get to assume control of any non nuclear nation it wants?
at what point is it proper to deal with a bully? At what point does a bully put down his weapons? Does appeasement work?
Anyone else worried about the nuclear saber rattling and talk of armageddon coming from the two nuclear powers. This type of thing being casually discussed on the news and in papers has me very uneasy and was one of the main reasons I have/had major apprehensions about a Russian proxy war.
Not to worry, Speaker McCarthy on the way soon to help, what Putin wants, Putin gets.
I'm not sure if you are being serious or joking? Anyway what are your thoughts on the viability of this conflict potentially going nuclear and what that means for the world?
McCarthy stated he was against continuing Ukraine funding. So nuclear nations get to assume control of any non nuclear nation it wants?
at what point is it proper to deal with a bully? At what point does a bully put down his weapons? Does appeasement work?
.
By the same coin we are also a nuclear nation that calls the shots by illegally invading nations. It would be nice if nobody had nukes unfortunately that will never happen. Since the two man nuclear super powers have nukes I guess sometimes they get away with shit. A million dead in Iraq and Afghanistan in our case, thousands of Ukranians in Russia's. Neither is right, but it is pretty hypocritical for the US to try to act as if we can take the higher ground.
Does all this mean that invading Ukraine was ok? No. Does this mean we shouldn't support Ukraine? No. Should we try to avoid Nuclear conflict if at all possible even if it means cedeing some land and negotiating with Putin, probably. Are we that close to this escalating to a nuclear level? I don't know, they haven't called me in for those conversations yet. Given the choice between World War III/ Nuclear War, I don't think negotiating equals appeasement. Unless Putin is literally Hitler and there is no possibility whatsoever for negotiation. The choices currently on the table, Russia leaves all territory formerly held by Ukraine, or Russia fights Ukraine to the last Ukrainian are not exactly realistic.
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
Anyone else worried about the nuclear saber rattling and talk of armageddon coming from the two nuclear powers. This type of thing being casually discussed on the news and in papers has me very uneasy and was one of the main reasons I have/had major apprehensions about a Russian proxy war.
Not to worry, Speaker McCarthy on the way soon to help, what Putin wants, Putin gets.
I'm not sure if you are being serious or joking? Anyway what are your thoughts on the viability of this conflict potentially going nuclear and what that means for the world?
McCarthy stated he was against continuing Ukraine funding. So nuclear nations get to assume control of any non nuclear nation it wants?
at what point is it proper to deal with a bully? At what point does a bully put down his weapons? Does appeasement work?
.
By the same coin we are also a nuclear nation that calls the shots by illegally invading nations. It would be nice if nobody had nukes unfortunately that will never happen. Since the two man nuclear super powers have nukes I guess sometimes they get away with shit. A million dead in Iraq and Afghanistan in our case, thousands of Ukranians in Russia's. Neither is right, but it is pretty hypocritical for the US to try to act as if we can take the higher ground.
Does all this mean that invading Ukraine was ok? No. Does this mean we shouldn't support Ukraine? No. Should we try to avoid Nuclear conflict if at all possible even if it means cedeing some land and negotiating with Putin, probably. Are we that close to this escalating to a nuclear level? I don't know, they haven't called me in for those conversations yet. Given the choice between World War III/ Nuclear War, I don't think negotiating equals appeasement. Unless Putin is literally Hitler and there is no possibility whatsoever for negotiation. The choices currently on the table, Russia leaves all territory formerly held by Ukraine, or Russia fights Ukraine to the last Ukrainian are not exactly realistic.
Comparing Russia to our involvement in Afghanistan is unfair. We were attacked by now what was obviously the most powerful group there. Iraq was a terrible invasion by Bush, but America was not interested in owning Iraq and harvesting it’s children, as Putin is doing right now to Ukrainian children.
The prospect of nuclear war is terrifying, but what have the voices in Eastern Europe, closest to Russia, been telling us the last decade? They have been warning the world about Russia's aggressiveness.
The world allowed the takeover of Crimea eight years ago and hardly blinked. Now McCarthy becomes speaker and Putin gets possibly all of Ukraine, what is next? The Baltics? Do we just continue to blink…until when?
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The point of the comparison to our endless entanglement in the Middle East is that we got away with it because we are bullies. I brought that up because Lerxt brought up bullies and nuclear nations controlling non nuclear nations, which is something that has happened since the first nukes got dropped and is not unique to Putin.
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The point of the comparison to our endless entanglement in the Middle East is that we got away with it because we are bullies. I brought that up because Lerxt brought up bullies and nuclear nations controlling non nuclear nations, which is something that has happened since the first nukes got dropped and is not unique to Putin.
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
Comparing Putin’s threat to use nukes and Biden’s concerns about Armageddon is a false equivalency. One guy is threatening to take it to that level and the other guy isn’t backing down & is advising what a terrible mistake that would be. Personally I’m pretty ok with the way Biden has handled this situation, and don’t want to see him or the rest of the world back down to Putin. To do so would be setting a terrible precedent.
I also don’t recall the US threatening to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The point of the comparison to our endless entanglement in the Middle East is that we got away with it because we are bullies. I brought that up because Lerxt brought up bullies and nuclear nations controlling non nuclear nations, which is something that has happened since the first nukes got dropped and is not unique to Putin.
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
Comparing Putin’s threat to use nukes and Biden’s concerns about Armageddon is a false equivalency. One guy is threatening to take it to that level and the other guy isn’t backing down & is advising what a terrible mistake that would be. Personally I’m pretty ok with the way Biden has handled this situation, and don’t want to see him or the rest of the world back down to Putin. To do so would be setting a terrible precedent.
I also don’t recall the US threatening to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Show me where I compared Putin's nuclear threat to Biden's remarks. I didn't. Both things were said. When dealing with nukes I don't think it is a good idea to be in the game of "what our guy said isn't as bad." Sure Putin threatening to use nuke's is worse than saying we will play ball on the same playing field. It's the fact that the nuclear playing field is even a potential that is horrible.
Of course we didn't threaten to use nukes in the ME, we didn't have to, we were able to destabilize an entire region and loot the area with non nuclear weapons instead. The US is at the stage where we don't need to make direct threats. It is pretty clear that the last few decades of US foreign policy has been you are either with us or we will work to undermine your country until you capitulate. There is no need for threats, nuclear or otherwise when it is inferred that we are ok fabricating intelligence to justify occupying and plundering foreign countries.
I am still at a loss as to how it is better to escalate this conflict to a potentially nuclear level than target a strike at Putin and be done with the whole mess. Especially considering that popular opinion is that Putin is literally Hitler and a savage unhinged lunatic, if this is the case why are we playing by the rules?
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up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,938
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The point of the comparison to our endless entanglement in the Middle East is that we got away with it because we are bullies. I brought that up because Lerxt brought up bullies and nuclear nations controlling non nuclear nations, which is something that has happened since the first nukes got dropped and is not unique to Putin.
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
Comparing Putin’s threat to use nukes and Biden’s concerns about Armageddon is a false equivalency. One guy is threatening to take it to that level and the other guy isn’t backing down & is advising what a terrible mistake that would be. Personally I’m pretty ok with the way Biden has handled this situation, and don’t want to see him or the rest of the world back down to Putin. To do so would be setting a terrible precedent.
I also don’t recall the US threatening to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Show me where I compared Putin's nuclear threat to Biden's remarks. I didn't. Both things were said. When dealing with nukes I don't think it is a good idea to be in the game of "what our guy said isn't as bad." Sure Putin threatening to use nuke's is worse than saying we will play ball on the same playing field. It's the fact that the nuclear playing field is even a potential that is horrible.
Of course we didn't threaten to use nukes in the ME, we didn't have to, we were able to destabilize an entire region and loot the area with non nuclear weapons instead. The US is at the stage where we don't need to make direct threats. It is pretty clear that the last few decades of US foreign policy has been you are either with us or we will work to undermine your country until you capitulate. There is no need for threats, nuclear or otherwise when it is inferred that we are ok fabricating intelligence to justify occupying and plundering foreign countries.
I am still at a loss as to how it is better to escalate this conflict to a potentially nuclear level than target a strike at Putin and be done with the whole mess. Especially considering that popular opinion is that Putin is literally Hitler and a savage unhinged lunatic, if this is the case why are we playing by the rules?
Russia's defense chief warns of 'dirty bomb' provocation
By ANDREW MELDRUM
2 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s defense chief alleged Sunday that Ukraine was preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device, a stark claim that was strongly rejected by U.S., British and Ukrainian officials amid soaring tensions as Moscow struggles to stem Ukrainian advances in the south.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the United States, Britain, France and Turkey.
Russia's defense ministry said Shoigu voiced concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. It doesn’t have the devastating effect of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Russian authorities repeatedly have made allegations that Ukraine could detonate a dirty bomb in a false flag attack and blame it on Moscow. Ukrainian authorities, in turn, have accused the Kremlin of hatching such a plan.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace strongly rejected Shoigu's claim and warned Moscow against using it as a pretext for escalation.
The British Ministry of Defense noted that Shoigu, in a call with Wallace, “alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.”
“The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” the ministry said.
The U.S. also rejected Shoigu’s “transparently false allegations," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
In a televised address Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means only one thing: that Russia has already prepared all of it," Zelenskyy said.
The mention of the dirty bomb threat in Shoigu’s calls seemed to indicate the threat of such an attack has risen to an unprecedented level.
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces said Shoigu told his counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, that the situation in Ukraine was rapidly worsening and “trending towards uncontrollable escalation.”
“It appears that there is a shared feeling that the tensions have approached the level that could raise the real threat for all,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, the Kremlin-connected head of the Council for Foreign and Defense policies, a Moscow-based group of top foreign affairs experts.
The rising tensions come as Russian authorities reported building defensive positions in occupied areas of Ukraine and border regions of Russia, reflecting fears that Ukrainian forces may attack along new sections of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line of the war, which enters its ninth month on Monday.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has focused its counteroffensive mostly on the Kherson region. Their relentless artillery strikes cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects the southern region, leaving Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson, said Sunday in a radio interview that Russian defensive lines “have been reinforced and the situation has remained stable” since local officials strongly encouraged all residents of the region's capital and nearby areas Saturday to evacuate by ferry to the river's east bank.
The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law on Thursday. Kherson city has been in Russian hands since the early days of the war, but Ukraine's forces have made advances toward reclaiming it.
About 20,000 Kherson residents have moved to places on the east bank of the Dnieper River, the Kremlin-backed regional administration reported. The Ukrainian military said Sunday that Russia's military also withdrew its officers from areas on the west bank, leaving newly mobilized, inexperienced forces.
The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified.
As Ukraine presses south after liberating the Kharkiv region in the north last month, authorities in the western Russian provinces bordering northeastern Ukraine appeared jittery.
The governor of Russia's Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said Sunday that two defensive lines have been built and a third one would be finished by Nov. 5.
Defensive lines were also established in the Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
More defensive positions were being built in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, said Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire Russian businessman who owns the Wagner Group, a mercenary military company that has played a prominent role in the war.
Prigozhin said his company was constructing a “Wagner line” in the Luhansk region, another of the Ukrainian provinces Putin illegally annexed last month. Prigozhin posted images last week showing a section of newly built defenses and trench systems southeast of the town of Kreminna.
The British Defense Ministry said Sunday “the project suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counteroffensives.”
Russia’s forces captured Luhansk several months ago. Pro-Moscow separatists declared independent republics in the region and neighboring Donetsk eight years ago, and Putin made controlling all of both provinces a goal at the war’s outset.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, said Sunday that Russia’s latest strategy of targeting power plants appeared aimed at diminishing Ukrainians’ will to fight and forcing the government in Kyiv to devote more resources to protecting civilians and energy infrastructure.
It said the effort was unlikely to damage Ukrainian morale but would have significant economic impacts.
President Zelenskyy said Sunday that utilities workers were well on their way to restoring electricity supplies cut off by large-scale Russian missile strikes Saturday, but acknowledged that it would take longer to provide heating.
Nine regions across Ukraine, from Odesa in the southwest to Kharkiv in the northeast, saw more attacks targeting energy and other critical infrastructure over the past day, the Ukrainian army's general staff said. It reported a total of 25 Russian airstrikes and more than 100 missile and artillery strikes around Ukraine.
In response, Zelenskyy appealed to mayors and other local leaders to ensure that Ukrainians heed official calls to conserve energy. “Now is definitely not the time for bright storefronts and signs,” he said.
___
Aamer Madhani and Lolita Baldor in Washington and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The point of the comparison to our endless entanglement in the Middle East is that we got away with it because we are bullies. I brought that up because Lerxt brought up bullies and nuclear nations controlling non nuclear nations, which is something that has happened since the first nukes got dropped and is not unique to Putin.
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
Comparing Putin’s threat to use nukes and Biden’s concerns about Armageddon is a false equivalency. One guy is threatening to take it to that level and the other guy isn’t backing down & is advising what a terrible mistake that would be. Personally I’m pretty ok with the way Biden has handled this situation, and don’t want to see him or the rest of the world back down to Putin. To do so would be setting a terrible precedent.
I also don’t recall the US threatening to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Show me where I compared Putin's nuclear threat to Biden's remarks. I didn't. Both things were said. When dealing with nukes I don't think it is a good idea to be in the game of "what our guy said isn't as bad." Sure Putin threatening to use nuke's is worse than saying we will play ball on the same playing field. It's the fact that the nuclear playing field is even a potential that is horrible.
Of course we didn't threaten to use nukes in the ME, we didn't have to, we were able to destabilize an entire region and loot the area with non nuclear weapons instead. The US is at the stage where we don't need to make direct threats. It is pretty clear that the last few decades of US foreign policy has been you are either with us or we will work to undermine your country until you capitulate. There is no need for threats, nuclear or otherwise when it is inferred that we are ok fabricating intelligence to justify occupying and plundering foreign countries.
I am still at a loss as to how it is better to escalate this conflict to a potentially nuclear level than target a strike at Putin and be done with the whole mess. Especially considering that popular opinion is that Putin is literally Hitler and a savage unhinged lunatic, if this is the case why are we playing by the rules?
Russia's defense chief warns of 'dirty bomb' provocation
By ANDREW MELDRUM
2 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s defense chief alleged Sunday that Ukraine was preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device, a stark claim that was strongly rejected by U.S., British and Ukrainian officials amid soaring tensions as Moscow struggles to stem Ukrainian advances in the south.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the United States, Britain, France and Turkey.
Russia's defense ministry said Shoigu voiced concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. It doesn’t have the devastating effect of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Russian authorities repeatedly have made allegations that Ukraine could detonate a dirty bomb in a false flag attack and blame it on Moscow. Ukrainian authorities, in turn, have accused the Kremlin of hatching such a plan.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace strongly rejected Shoigu's claim and warned Moscow against using it as a pretext for escalation.
The British Ministry of Defense noted that Shoigu, in a call with Wallace, “alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.”
“The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” the ministry said.
The U.S. also rejected Shoigu’s “transparently false allegations," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
In a televised address Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means only one thing: that Russia has already prepared all of it," Zelenskyy said.
The mention of the dirty bomb threat in Shoigu’s calls seemed to indicate the threat of such an attack has risen to an unprecedented level.
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces said Shoigu told his counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, that the situation in Ukraine was rapidly worsening and “trending towards uncontrollable escalation.”
“It appears that there is a shared feeling that the tensions have approached the level that could raise the real threat for all,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, the Kremlin-connected head of the Council for Foreign and Defense policies, a Moscow-based group of top foreign affairs experts.
The rising tensions come as Russian authorities reported building defensive positions in occupied areas of Ukraine and border regions of Russia, reflecting fears that Ukrainian forces may attack along new sections of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line of the war, which enters its ninth month on Monday.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has focused its counteroffensive mostly on the Kherson region. Their relentless artillery strikes cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects the southern region, leaving Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson, said Sunday in a radio interview that Russian defensive lines “have been reinforced and the situation has remained stable” since local officials strongly encouraged all residents of the region's capital and nearby areas Saturday to evacuate by ferry to the river's east bank.
The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law on Thursday. Kherson city has been in Russian hands since the early days of the war, but Ukraine's forces have made advances toward reclaiming it.
About 20,000 Kherson residents have moved to places on the east bank of the Dnieper River, the Kremlin-backed regional administration reported. The Ukrainian military said Sunday that Russia's military also withdrew its officers from areas on the west bank, leaving newly mobilized, inexperienced forces.
The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified.
As Ukraine presses south after liberating the Kharkiv region in the north last month, authorities in the western Russian provinces bordering northeastern Ukraine appeared jittery.
The governor of Russia's Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said Sunday that two defensive lines have been built and a third one would be finished by Nov. 5.
Defensive lines were also established in the Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
More defensive positions were being built in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, said Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire Russian businessman who owns the Wagner Group, a mercenary military company that has played a prominent role in the war.
Prigozhin said his company was constructing a “Wagner line” in the Luhansk region, another of the Ukrainian provinces Putin illegally annexed last month. Prigozhin posted images last week showing a section of newly built defenses and trench systems southeast of the town of Kreminna.
The British Defense Ministry said Sunday “the project suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counteroffensives.”
Russia’s forces captured Luhansk several months ago. Pro-Moscow separatists declared independent republics in the region and neighboring Donetsk eight years ago, and Putin made controlling all of both provinces a goal at the war’s outset.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, said Sunday that Russia’s latest strategy of targeting power plants appeared aimed at diminishing Ukrainians’ will to fight and forcing the government in Kyiv to devote more resources to protecting civilians and energy infrastructure.
It said the effort was unlikely to damage Ukrainian morale but would have significant economic impacts.
President Zelenskyy said Sunday that utilities workers were well on their way to restoring electricity supplies cut off by large-scale Russian missile strikes Saturday, but acknowledged that it would take longer to provide heating.
Nine regions across Ukraine, from Odesa in the southwest to Kharkiv in the northeast, saw more attacks targeting energy and other critical infrastructure over the past day, the Ukrainian army's general staff said. It reported a total of 25 Russian airstrikes and more than 100 missile and artillery strikes around Ukraine.
In response, Zelenskyy appealed to mayors and other local leaders to ensure that Ukrainians heed official calls to conserve energy. “Now is definitely not the time for bright storefronts and signs,” he said.
___
Aamer Madhani and Lolita Baldor in Washington and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.
This is such a shit show. Reading an article like that doesn't leave me anymore informed than I was before and just leaves me with more questions as well as more information that this is in fact slowly ratcheting up to direct use of nuclear weapons. The whole we aren't staging a false flag attack, you are stuff doesn't leave me feeling much better either. Thanks for sharing the article though.
I don’t comment on this thread often, because I don’t think I know enough about the whole situation… but I feel pretty confident in saying appeasement will only embolden future similar behavior. Giving Russia what it wants for fear of their nuclear saber rattling will only lead to them making more nuclear threats down the road. It wouldn’t end here.
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The point of the comparison to our endless entanglement in the Middle East is that we got away with it because we are bullies. I brought that up because Lerxt brought up bullies and nuclear nations controlling non nuclear nations, which is something that has happened since the first nukes got dropped and is not unique to Putin.
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
Comparing Putin’s threat to use nukes and Biden’s concerns about Armageddon is a false equivalency. One guy is threatening to take it to that level and the other guy isn’t backing down & is advising what a terrible mistake that would be. Personally I’m pretty ok with the way Biden has handled this situation, and don’t want to see him or the rest of the world back down to Putin. To do so would be setting a terrible precedent.
I also don’t recall the US threatening to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Show me where I compared Putin's nuclear threat to Biden's remarks. I didn't. Both things were said. When dealing with nukes I don't think it is a good idea to be in the game of "what our guy said isn't as bad." Sure Putin threatening to use nuke's is worse than saying we will play ball on the same playing field. It's the fact that the nuclear playing field is even a potential that is horrible.
Of course we didn't threaten to use nukes in the ME, we didn't have to, we were able to destabilize an entire region and loot the area with non nuclear weapons instead. The US is at the stage where we don't need to make direct threats. It is pretty clear that the last few decades of US foreign policy has been you are either with us or we will work to undermine your country until you capitulate. There is no need for threats, nuclear or otherwise when it is inferred that we are ok fabricating intelligence to justify occupying and plundering foreign countries.
I am still at a loss as to how it is better to escalate this conflict to a potentially nuclear level than target a strike at Putin and be done with the whole mess. Especially considering that popular opinion is that Putin is literally Hitler and a savage unhinged lunatic, if this is the case why are we playing by the rules?
The foundation of this argument is that we weren’t provoked in the ME. And that we are interested in controlling the region, as if the US gets benefit when a Dutch company forms JVs with the Iraqi oil regime. And that Putin is not solely responsible for playing the nuclear card.
In this case Putin is taking control of a country, harvesting their children and owning all of its resources. It’s Putins soldiers walking their streets and shooting any dissenters in the occupied countries.
If we were never attacked, if Kuwait were never attacked, if Saddam never used WMDs on the Kurds, there would not have been US attacks.
We are going to order Ukraine to give up part of their land to Russia? Then the same problem remains, where does it end? Baltics? Poland?
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,938
Ukraine cites success in downing drones, fixes energy sites
By ANDREW MELDRUM
Today
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities tried to dampen public fears over Russia's use of Iranian drones by claiming increasing success Monday in shooting them down, while the Kremlin's talk of a possible “dirty bomb” attack has added another worrying dimension as the war enters its ninth month.
Ukrainians are bracing for less electric power this winter following a sustained Russian barrage on their infrastructure in recent weeks. Citizens in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv lined up for water and essential supplies as Ukrainian forces continued their advance on the nearby Russian-occupied city of Kherson.
Ukraine's forces have shot down more than two-thirds of the approximately 330 Shahed drones that Russia has fired through Saturday, the head of Ukraine’s intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview Monday. Budanov said Russia's military had ordered about 1,700 various types of drones, and is rolling out a second batch of about 300 Shaheds.
“Terror with the use of ‘Shaheds' can actually last for a long time,” he was quoted as saying in Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, adding: “Air defense is basically coping, 70% are shot down."
Both Russia and Iran deny that any Iranian-built drones have been used in the war but the triangle-shaped Shahed-136s have rained down on civilians in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense, in an intelligence update on Twitter, said Russia was likely to use a large number the drones to try to penetrate “increasingly effective Ukrainian air defenses” — in part to substitute for Russian-made long-range precision weapons “which are becoming increasingly scarce.”
That assessment came on top of a stark warning by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to key British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend that Ukrainian forces were preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device — a so-called “dirty bomb." Britain, France, and the United States rejected that claim as “transparently false.”
A dirty bomb uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror. Such weapons don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Russian authorities on Monday doubled down on Shoigu's warning.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian military’s radiation, chemical and biological protection forces, said Russian military assets were on high readiness for possible radioactive contamination. He told reporters a “dirty bomb” blast could contaminate thousands of square kilometers and spew deadly radiation up to 1,500 kilometers.
At a news conference Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: “It’s not an unfounded suspicion, we have serious reasons to believe that such things could be planned.”
Ukraine has rejected Moscow’s claims as an attempt to distract attention from its own plans to detonate a dirty bomb. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht on Monday dismissed as “outrageous” the claim that Ukraine could use a dirty bomb, saying there were “zero indications” of that.
In a televised address Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.
On the battlefield Monday, his office said at least six civilians were killed and another five were wounded by Russian shelling of several Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours, including Mykolaiv — where energy facilities were targeted — and the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.
Russian authorities said Ukrainian troops fired rockets at a major hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region. Russian news agencies cited regional emergency services as saying the Ukrainian military had fired 19 rockets at the Kakhovka plant and scored three hits.
Vladimir Rogov, a senior member of the Kherson regional administration, said the plant hadn’t sustained serious damage and continued to operate. Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of plotting to blow up the plant’s dam to flood the area as Ukrainian forces were pressing an offensive on Kherson, which was captured by Russian troops early in the war.
Ukraine’s relentless artillery strikes on Kherson have cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects southern Ukraine, and have left Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement. The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law last week.
Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, played down speculation that Russian forces were preparing an immediate exit from Kherson.
While Russian forces were helping hundreds of officials and residents evacuate, “at the same time, they are bringing new military units in and preparing the streets of the city for defense,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities removed monuments of 18th-century Russian military chiefs Alexander Suvorov and Fyodor Ushakov from Kherson to save them from Ukrainian shelling.
On Saturday, Russian-installed authorities told all residents of Kherson to leave “immediately” ahead of an expected advance by Ukrainian troops waging a counteroffensive to recapture the city, which sits on a key route to the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
A poll released Monday from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed 86% of Ukrainian respondents agreed that Ukraine’s armed struggle with Russia should continue. Some 10% believed it was necessary to start negotiations with Russia even if Ukraine has to make concessions. The telephone poll of 1,000 adults from across Ukraine was conducted Friday through Sunday, it said.
Residents in Mykolaiv, northwest of Kherson, echoed the determination to fight on — even as their city endures shelling almost every night and residents must line up during the day for food and water.
“Ukraine is doing the right thing. Russians attacked us, and they must be beaten for that,” said Mykolaiv resident Mykola Kovalenko, 76. “Of course, my life changed. I live with constant pressure.”
With an eye on the coming winter, Kyiv and seven other Ukrainian regions on Monday planned rolling blackouts as authorities worked to fix the damage to energy facilities caused by Russian shelling.
Zelenskyy said repair crews are working to restore electricity supplies cut off by large-scale Russian missile strikes on Saturday, and appealed to local authorities to make sure Ukrainians heed a call to conserve energy.
“Now is definitely not the time for bright storefronts and signs,” he said.
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mickeyrat
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Ukraine nuclear agency thickens plot over alleged dirty bomb
2 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia’s claims that Kyiv’s forces are preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb. Shoigu made the charge in calls to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend. Britain, France, and the United States rejected it out of hand as “transparently false.”
Ukraine also dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the country's four nuclear power plants, said Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Russian officers controlling the area won’t give access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what they are doing, Energoatom said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Energoatom said it “assumes ... (the Russians) are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at (the plant).” It said there were 174 containers at the plant’s dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.
“Destruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of the adjacent territory,” the company said.
It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess what was going on.
The Kremlin has insisted that its warning of a purported Ukrainian plan to use a dirty bomb radioactive device should be taken seriously and criticized the Western nations for shrugging it off.
The dismissal of Moscow's warning is “unacceptable in view of the seriousness of the danger that we have talked about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
Speaking during a conference call with reporters, Peskov added: “We again emphasize the grave danger posed by the plans hatched by the Ukrainians.”
The White House on Monday again underscored that the Russian allegations were false.
“It’s just not true. We know it’s not true,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. “In the past, the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that they were planning to do.”
Dirty bombs don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
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you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
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Ukraine nuclear agency thickens plot over alleged dirty bomb
2 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia’s claims that Kyiv’s forces are preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb. Shoigu made the charge in calls to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend. Britain, France, and the United States rejected it out of hand as “transparently false.”
Ukraine also dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the country's four nuclear power plants, said Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Russian officers controlling the area won’t give access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what they are doing, Energoatom said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Energoatom said it “assumes ... (the Russians) are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at (the plant).” It said there were 174 containers at the plant’s dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.
“Destruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of the adjacent territory,” the company said.
It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess what was going on.
The Kremlin has insisted that its warning of a purported Ukrainian plan to use a dirty bomb radioactive device should be taken seriously and criticized the Western nations for shrugging it off.
The dismissal of Moscow's warning is “unacceptable in view of the seriousness of the danger that we have talked about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
Speaking during a conference call with reporters, Peskov added: “We again emphasize the grave danger posed by the plans hatched by the Ukrainians.”
The White House on Monday again underscored that the Russian allegations were false.
“It’s just not true. We know it’s not true,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. “In the past, the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that they were planning to do.”
Dirty bombs don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Ukraine nuclear agency thickens plot over alleged dirty bomb
2 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia’s claims that Kyiv’s forces are preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb. Shoigu made the charge in calls to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend. Britain, France, and the United States rejected it out of hand as “transparently false.”
Ukraine also dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the country's four nuclear power plants, said Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Russian officers controlling the area won’t give access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what they are doing, Energoatom said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Energoatom said it “assumes ... (the Russians) are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at (the plant).” It said there were 174 containers at the plant’s dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.
“Destruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of the adjacent territory,” the company said.
It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess what was going on.
The Kremlin has insisted that its warning of a purported Ukrainian plan to use a dirty bomb radioactive device should be taken seriously and criticized the Western nations for shrugging it off.
The dismissal of Moscow's warning is “unacceptable in view of the seriousness of the danger that we have talked about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
Speaking during a conference call with reporters, Peskov added: “We again emphasize the grave danger posed by the plans hatched by the Ukrainians.”
The White House on Monday again underscored that the Russian allegations were false.
“It’s just not true. We know it’s not true,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. “In the past, the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that they were planning to do.”
Dirty bombs don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,938
Amid fierce battles, Russia warns it could hit US satellites
By ANDREW MELDRUM
2 hours ago
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces attacked Russia's hold on the southern city of Kherson on Thursday while fighting also intensified in the country's east. The battles came amid reports that Moscow-appointed authorities in Kherson have fled the city, joining tens of thousands of residents who have been evacuated to other Russia-held areas.
Ukrainian forces were surrounding Kherson from the west and attacking Russia’s foothold on the west bank of the Dnieper River, which divides the region and the country.
Amid the battles, Russia issued a warning that the United States could be drawn into the conflict, adding it could target Western commercial satellites used for military purposes in support of Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the United States of pursuing “thoughtless and mad” escalation. She argued that Washington should take a more responsible approach shown during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ‒ when the Cold War superpowers stepped back from the brink of nuclear confrontation.
Ukraine has pushed ahead with an offensive to reclaim the Kherson region and its capital of the same name, which Russian forces captured during the first days of a war now in its ninth month.
More than 70,000 residents from the Kherson city area have evacuated in recent days, the region's Kremlin-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, said Thursday.
Members of the Russia-backed regional administration were included in the evacuation, the deputy governor, Kirill Stremousov said. Monuments to Russian heroes were moved, along with the remains of Grigory Potemkin, the Russian general who founded Kherson in the 18th century, that were kept at the city’s St. Catherine’s Church.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continued to bombard the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, making slow gains toward the center.
Amid the heavy combat on two fronts, Russian officials stepped up warns that the West could become part of the conflict.
“The more the U.S. is drawn into supporting the Kyiv regime on the battlefield, the more they risk provoking a direct military confrontation between the biggest nuclear powers fraught with catastrophic consequences,” said Zakharova, the Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman.
“Washington now keeps upping the ante, apparently believing that it’s capable of controlling the escalation,” she said.
The deputy head of Russia’s delegation at a U.N. arms control panel, Konstantin Vorontsov, described the use of U.S. and other Western commercial satellites for military purposes during the fighting in Ukraine as “extremely dangerous.”
“The quasi-civilian infrastructure could be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike,” Vorontsov warned.
As they have all month, Russian forces carried out attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which have caused increasing worry ahead of winter.
A Russian drone attack early Thursday hit an energy facility near the capital of Kyiv, causing a fire, said Kyiv regional Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba. He said the latest attacks inflicted “very serious damage.”
“The Russians are using drones and missiles to destroy Ukraine’s energy system ahead of the winter and terrorize civilians,” Kuleba said in televised remarks.
Kuleba announced new rolling blackouts and urged consumers to save power. He said authorities were still pondering over specifics of the blackouts needed to restore the damaged power facilities.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said rolling blackouts would also be introduced in the neighboring Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regioms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said earlier that Russian attacks have already destroyed 30% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
In a likely response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, a power plant was attacked just outside Sevastopol, a port in the Russian-annexed region of Crimea. The plant suffered minor damage in a drone attack, according to city leader Mikhail Razvozhayev. He said electricity supplies were uninterrupted.
Crimea, a region slightly larger than Sicily, was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. It has faced drone attacks and explosions amid the fighting in Ukraine. In a major setback for Russia, a powerful truck bomb blew up a section of a strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia’s mainland on Oct. 8.
A senior Ukrainian military officer accused Russia of planning to stage explosions at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and blame them on Ukraine in a false flag attack.
Gen. Oleksii Gromov, the chief of the main operational department of the Ukrainian military’s general staff, pointed to Moscow's repeated unfounded allegations that Ukraine was plotting to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb as a possible signal that Moscow was planning explosions at the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
Russia took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in the opening days of the invasion. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking the plant, whose reactors were shut down following continuous shelling.
Gromov also charged Thursday that Russian forces may have staged explosions at residential buildings in the city of Kherson before retreating from the city “to inflict a critical damage to the infrastructure of the areas being reclaimed by Ukraine.”
The war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis is likely to cause global demand for fossil fuels to peak or flatten out, according to a report released Thursday by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, largely due to the fall in Russian exports.
“Today’s energy crisis is delivering a shock of unprecedented breadth and complexity,” the IEA said, releasing its annual report, the World Energy Outlook.
The report said this was forcing the world's more advanced economies to accelerate structural changes toward renewable energy sources. ___
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Russia wont do anything rash like nuclear warfare. They just want to make people uneasy.
Putin is waiting out these elections, as well as a winter in Europe that is going to see higher energy costs and discomfort. Pro-Putin politicians will see a bump, people will argue whether or not Ukraine is worth it, and Ukraine will lose support, weapons, and funding. Once that dries up, the situation becomes much more favorable for Russia to grab all that they want, demand "Peace" when they want, and walk away pretending to be the good guy.
I dont see how you "take putin out" He is playing by his own rules. Nobody will touch him
Then he will just keep on taking pieces of the pie till he’s gobbled it all up and the west will just shrug and say how did this happen! At some point a leader will have to step up.
Russia recruiting U.S.-trained Afghan commandos, vets say
By BERNARD CONDON
1 hour ago
Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals told The Associated Press.
They said the Russians want to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos into a “foreign legion” with offers of steady, $1,500-a-month payments and promises of safe havens for themselves and their families so they can avoid deportation home to what many assume would be death at the hands of the Taliban.
“They don’t want to go fight — but they have no choice,” said one of the generals, Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, adding that the dozen or so commandos in Iran with whom he has texted fear deportation most. “They ask me, ‘Give me a solution. What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’”
Arghandiwal said the recruiting is led by the Russian mercenary force Wagner Group. Another general, Hibatullah Alizai, the last Afghan army chief before the Taliban took over, said the effort is also being helped by a former Afghan special forces commander who lived in Russia and speaks the language.
The Russian recruitment follows months of warnings from U.S. soldiers who fought with Afghan special forces that the Taliban was intent on killing them and that they might join with U.S. enemies to stay alive or out of anger with their former ally.
A GOP congressional report in August specifically warned of the danger that the Afghan commandos — trained by U.S. Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets — could end up giving up information about U.S. tactics to the Islamic State group, Iran or Russia — or fight for them.
“We didn’t get these individuals out as we promised, and now it’s coming home to roost,” said Michael Mulroy, a retired CIA officer who served in Afghanistan, adding that the Afghan commandos are highly skilled, fierce fighters. “I don’t want to see them in any battlefield, frankly, but certainly not fighting the Ukrainians.”
Mulroy was skeptical, however, that Russians would be able to persuade many Afghan commandos to join because most he knew were driven by the desire to make democracy work in their country rather than being guns for hire.
AP was investigating the Afghan recruiting when details of the effort were first reported by Foreign Policy magazine last week based on unnamed Afghan military and security sources. The recruitment comes as Russian forces reel from Ukrainian military advances and Russian President Vladimir Putin pursues a sputtering mobilization effort, which has prompted nearly 200,000 Russian men to flee the country to escape service.
Russia's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Yevgeny Prigozhin, who recently acknowledged being the founder of the Wagner Group, dismissed the idea of an ongoing effort to recruit former Afghan soldiers as “crazy nonsense.”
The U.S. Defense Department also didn’t reply to a request for comment, but a senior official suggested the recruiting is not surprising given that Wagner has been trying to sign up soldiers in several other countries.
It’s unclear how many Afghan special forces members who fled to Iran have been courted by the Russians, but one told the AP he is communicating through the WhatsApp chat service with about 400 other commandos who are considering offers.
He said many like him fear deportation and are angry at the U.S. for abandoning them.
“We thought they might create a special program for us, but no one even thought about us,” said the former commando, who requested anonymity because he fears for himself and his family. “They just left us all in the hands of the Taliban.”
The commando said his offer included Russian visas for himself as well as his three children and wife who are still in Afghanistan. Others have been offered extensions of their visas in Iran. He said he is waiting to see what others in the WhatsApp groups decide but thinks many will take the deal.
U.S. veterans who fought with Afghan special forces have described to the AP nearly a dozen cases, none confirmed independently, of the Taliban going house to house looking for commandos still in the country, torturing or killing them, or doing the same to family members if they are nowhere to be found.
Human Rights Watch has said more than 100 former Afghan soldiers, intelligence officers and police were killed or forcibly “disappeared” just three months after the Taliban took over despite promises of amnesty. The United Nations in a report in mid-October documented 160 extrajudicial killings and 178 arrests of former government and military officials.
The brother of an Afghan commando in Iran who has accepted the Russian offer said Taliban threats make it difficult to refuse. He said his brother had to hide for three months after the fall of Kabul, shuttling between relatives’ houses while the Taliban searched his home.
“My brother had no other choice other than accepting the offer,” said the commando’s brother, Murad, who would only give his first name because of fear the Taliban might track him down. “This was not an easy decision for him.”
Former Afghan army chief Alizai said much of the Russian recruiting effort is focused on Tehran and Mashhad, a city near the Afghan border where many have fled. None of the generals who spoke to the AP, including a third, Abdul Jabar Wafa, said their contacts in Iran know how many have taken up the offer.
“You get military training in Russia for two months, and then you go to the battle lines,” read one text message a former Afghan soldier in Iran sent to Arghandiwal. “A number of personnel have gone, but they have lost contact with their families and friends altogether. The exact statistics are unclear.”
An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Afghan special forces fought with the Americans during the two-decade war, and only a few hundred senior officers were airlifted out when the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan. Since many of the Afghan commandos did not work directly for the U.S. military, they were not eligible for special U.S. visas.
“They were the ones who fought to the really last minute. And they never, never, never talked to the Taliban. They never negotiated,” Alizai said. “Leaving them behind is the biggest mistake.”
___
Condon reported from New York. AP writers Rahim Faiez in Islamabad and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
Its all so pointless
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this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
at what point is it proper to deal with a bully? At what point does a bully put down his weapons? Does appeasement work?
Does all this mean that invading Ukraine was ok? No. Does this mean we shouldn't support Ukraine? No. Should we try to avoid Nuclear conflict if at all possible even if it means cedeing some land and negotiating with Putin, probably. Are we that close to this escalating to a nuclear level? I don't know, they haven't called me in for those conversations yet. Given the choice between World War III/ Nuclear War, I don't think negotiating equals appeasement. Unless Putin is literally Hitler and there is no possibility whatsoever for negotiation. The choices currently on the table, Russia leaves all territory formerly held by Ukraine, or Russia fights Ukraine to the last Ukrainian are not exactly realistic.
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
I also fail to see what the (ridiculous) US wars in Iran or Afghanistan have to do with helping a European ally defend against an invading force. That isn’t this. If Russia were to take over Ukraine, it would be bad for the entire world… not just Ukraine, not just the EU, it would be bad for all of us.
The prospect of nuclear war is terrifying, but what have the voices in Eastern Europe, closest to Russia, been telling us the last decade? They have been warning the world about Russia's aggressiveness.
The world allowed the takeover of Crimea eight years ago and hardly blinked. Now McCarthy becomes speaker and Putin gets possibly all of Ukraine, what is next? The Baltics? Do we just continue to blink…until when?
I agree there is a risk that negotiating with Putin could lead to more of the same down the road. There is also the chance that it wouldn't. I don't know what would be likely to happen, and I am smart enough not to get into logical games of trying to predict the future.
When Putin is talking about nukes and Biden is talking about Armageddon, I tend to think it is time to find some way to deescalate, because as bad as Russia getting Ukraine would be for the world, WWIII/Nuclear exchange would be much worse.
Hopefully restored contact between defense secretaries leads to some sort of way out that doesn't lead to escalation.
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
Of course we didn't threaten to use nukes in the ME, we didn't have to, we were able to destabilize an entire region and loot the area with non nuclear weapons instead. The US is at the stage where we don't need to make direct threats. It is pretty clear that the last few decades of US foreign policy has been you are either with us or we will work to undermine your country until you capitulate. There is no need for threats, nuclear or otherwise when it is inferred that we are ok fabricating intelligence to justify occupying and plundering foreign countries.
I am still at a loss as to how it is better to escalate this conflict to a potentially nuclear level than target a strike at Putin and be done with the whole mess. Especially considering that popular opinion is that Putin is literally Hitler and a savage unhinged lunatic, if this is the case why are we playing by the rules?
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s defense chief alleged Sunday that Ukraine was preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device, a stark claim that was strongly rejected by U.S., British and Ukrainian officials amid soaring tensions as Moscow struggles to stem Ukrainian advances in the south.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the United States, Britain, France and Turkey.
Russia's defense ministry said Shoigu voiced concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. It doesn’t have the devastating effect of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Russian authorities repeatedly have made allegations that Ukraine could detonate a dirty bomb in a false flag attack and blame it on Moscow. Ukrainian authorities, in turn, have accused the Kremlin of hatching such a plan.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace strongly rejected Shoigu's claim and warned Moscow against using it as a pretext for escalation.
The British Ministry of Defense noted that Shoigu, in a call with Wallace, “alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.”
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“The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” the ministry said.
The U.S. also rejected Shoigu’s “transparently false allegations," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
In a televised address Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means only one thing: that Russia has already prepared all of it," Zelenskyy said.
The mention of the dirty bomb threat in Shoigu’s calls seemed to indicate the threat of such an attack has risen to an unprecedented level.
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces said Shoigu told his counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, that the situation in Ukraine was rapidly worsening and “trending towards uncontrollable escalation.”
“It appears that there is a shared feeling that the tensions have approached the level that could raise the real threat for all,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, the Kremlin-connected head of the Council for Foreign and Defense policies, a Moscow-based group of top foreign affairs experts.
The rising tensions come as Russian authorities reported building defensive positions in occupied areas of Ukraine and border regions of Russia, reflecting fears that Ukrainian forces may attack along new sections of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line of the war, which enters its ninth month on Monday.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has focused its counteroffensive mostly on the Kherson region. Their relentless artillery strikes cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects the southern region, leaving Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement.
Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson, said Sunday in a radio interview that Russian defensive lines “have been reinforced and the situation has remained stable” since local officials strongly encouraged all residents of the region's capital and nearby areas Saturday to evacuate by ferry to the river's east bank.
The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law on Thursday. Kherson city has been in Russian hands since the early days of the war, but Ukraine's forces have made advances toward reclaiming it.
About 20,000 Kherson residents have moved to places on the east bank of the Dnieper River, the Kremlin-backed regional administration reported. The Ukrainian military said Sunday that Russia's military also withdrew its officers from areas on the west bank, leaving newly mobilized, inexperienced forces.
The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified.
As Ukraine presses south after liberating the Kharkiv region in the north last month, authorities in the western Russian provinces bordering northeastern Ukraine appeared jittery.
The governor of Russia's Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said Sunday that two defensive lines have been built and a third one would be finished by Nov. 5.
Defensive lines were also established in the Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
More defensive positions were being built in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, said Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire Russian businessman who owns the Wagner Group, a mercenary military company that has played a prominent role in the war.
Prigozhin said his company was constructing a “Wagner line” in the Luhansk region, another of the Ukrainian provinces Putin illegally annexed last month. Prigozhin posted images last week showing a section of newly built defenses and trench systems southeast of the town of Kreminna.
The British Defense Ministry said Sunday “the project suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counteroffensives.”
Russia’s forces captured Luhansk several months ago. Pro-Moscow separatists declared independent republics in the region and neighboring Donetsk eight years ago, and Putin made controlling all of both provinces a goal at the war’s outset.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, said Sunday that Russia’s latest strategy of targeting power plants appeared aimed at diminishing Ukrainians’ will to fight and forcing the government in Kyiv to devote more resources to protecting civilians and energy infrastructure.
It said the effort was unlikely to damage Ukrainian morale but would have significant economic impacts.
President Zelenskyy said Sunday that utilities workers were well on their way to restoring electricity supplies cut off by large-scale Russian missile strikes Saturday, but acknowledged that it would take longer to provide heating.
Nine regions across Ukraine, from Odesa in the southwest to Kharkiv in the northeast, saw more attacks targeting energy and other critical infrastructure over the past day, the Ukrainian army's general staff said. It reported a total of 25 Russian airstrikes and more than 100 missile and artillery strikes around Ukraine.
In response, Zelenskyy appealed to mayors and other local leaders to ensure that Ukrainians heed official calls to conserve energy. “Now is definitely not the time for bright storefronts and signs,” he said.
___
Aamer Madhani and Lolita Baldor in Washington and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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There are no kings inside the gates of eden
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
In this case Putin is taking control of a country, harvesting their children and owning all of its resources. It’s Putins soldiers walking their streets and shooting any dissenters in the occupied countries.
If we were never attacked, if Kuwait were never attacked, if Saddam never used WMDs on the Kurds, there would not have been US attacks.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities tried to dampen public fears over Russia's use of Iranian drones by claiming increasing success Monday in shooting them down, while the Kremlin's talk of a possible “dirty bomb” attack has added another worrying dimension as the war enters its ninth month.
Ukrainians are bracing for less electric power this winter following a sustained Russian barrage on their infrastructure in recent weeks. Citizens in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv lined up for water and essential supplies as Ukrainian forces continued their advance on the nearby Russian-occupied city of Kherson.
Ukraine's forces have shot down more than two-thirds of the approximately 330 Shahed drones that Russia has fired through Saturday, the head of Ukraine’s intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview Monday. Budanov said Russia's military had ordered about 1,700 various types of drones, and is rolling out a second batch of about 300 Shaheds.
“Terror with the use of ‘Shaheds' can actually last for a long time,” he was quoted as saying in Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, adding: “Air defense is basically coping, 70% are shot down."
Both Russia and Iran deny that any Iranian-built drones have been used in the war but the triangle-shaped Shahed-136s have rained down on civilians in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine.
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Britain’s Ministry of Defense, in an intelligence update on Twitter, said Russia was likely to use a large number the drones to try to penetrate “increasingly effective Ukrainian air defenses” — in part to substitute for Russian-made long-range precision weapons “which are becoming increasingly scarce.”
That assessment came on top of a stark warning by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to key British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend that Ukrainian forces were preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device — a so-called “dirty bomb." Britain, France, and the United States rejected that claim as “transparently false.”
A dirty bomb uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror. Such weapons don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
Russian authorities on Monday doubled down on Shoigu's warning.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian military’s radiation, chemical and biological protection forces, said Russian military assets were on high readiness for possible radioactive contamination. He told reporters a “dirty bomb” blast could contaminate thousands of square kilometers and spew deadly radiation up to 1,500 kilometers.
At a news conference Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: “It’s not an unfounded suspicion, we have serious reasons to believe that such things could be planned.”
Ukraine has rejected Moscow’s claims as an attempt to distract attention from its own plans to detonate a dirty bomb. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht on Monday dismissed as “outrageous” the claim that Ukraine could use a dirty bomb, saying there were “zero indications” of that.
In a televised address Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.
On the battlefield Monday, his office said at least six civilians were killed and another five were wounded by Russian shelling of several Ukrainian regions over the past 24 hours, including Mykolaiv — where energy facilities were targeted — and the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.
Russian authorities said Ukrainian troops fired rockets at a major hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region. Russian news agencies cited regional emergency services as saying the Ukrainian military had fired 19 rockets at the Kakhovka plant and scored three hits.
Vladimir Rogov, a senior member of the Kherson regional administration, said the plant hadn’t sustained serious damage and continued to operate. Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of plotting to blow up the plant’s dam to flood the area as Ukrainian forces were pressing an offensive on Kherson, which was captured by Russian troops early in the war.
Ukraine’s relentless artillery strikes on Kherson have cut the main crossings across the Dnieper River, which bisects southern Ukraine, and have left Russian troops on the west bank short of supplies and vulnerable to encirclement. The region is one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law last week.
Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, played down speculation that Russian forces were preparing an immediate exit from Kherson.
While Russian forces were helping hundreds of officials and residents evacuate, “at the same time, they are bringing new military units in and preparing the streets of the city for defense,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities removed monuments of 18th-century Russian military chiefs Alexander Suvorov and Fyodor Ushakov from Kherson to save them from Ukrainian shelling.
On Saturday, Russian-installed authorities told all residents of Kherson to leave “immediately” ahead of an expected advance by Ukrainian troops waging a counteroffensive to recapture the city, which sits on a key route to the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
A poll released Monday from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed 86% of Ukrainian respondents agreed that Ukraine’s armed struggle with Russia should continue. Some 10% believed it was necessary to start negotiations with Russia even if Ukraine has to make concessions. The telephone poll of 1,000 adults from across Ukraine was conducted Friday through Sunday, it said.
Residents in Mykolaiv, northwest of Kherson, echoed the determination to fight on — even as their city endures shelling almost every night and residents must line up during the day for food and water.
“Ukraine is doing the right thing. Russians attacked us, and they must be beaten for that,” said Mykolaiv resident Mykola Kovalenko, 76. “Of course, my life changed. I live with constant pressure.”
With an eye on the coming winter, Kyiv and seven other Ukrainian regions on Monday planned rolling blackouts as authorities worked to fix the damage to energy facilities caused by Russian shelling.
Zelenskyy said repair crews are working to restore electricity supplies cut off by large-scale Russian missile strikes on Saturday, and appealed to local authorities to make sure Ukrainians heed a call to conserve energy.
“Now is definitely not the time for bright storefronts and signs,” he said.
____
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia’s claims that Kyiv’s forces are preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb. Shoigu made the charge in calls to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend. Britain, France, and the United States rejected it out of hand as “transparently false.”
Ukraine also dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the country's four nuclear power plants, said Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Russian officers controlling the area won’t give access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what they are doing, Energoatom said in a statement issued Tuesday.
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Energoatom said it “assumes ... (the Russians) are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at (the plant).” It said there were 174 containers at the plant’s dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.
“Destruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of the adjacent territory,” the company said.
It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess what was going on.
The Kremlin has insisted that its warning of a purported Ukrainian plan to use a dirty bomb radioactive device should be taken seriously and criticized the Western nations for shrugging it off.
The dismissal of Moscow's warning is “unacceptable in view of the seriousness of the danger that we have talked about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
Speaking during a conference call with reporters, Peskov added: “We again emphasize the grave danger posed by the plans hatched by the Ukrainians.”
The White House on Monday again underscored that the Russian allegations were false.
“It’s just not true. We know it’s not true,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. “In the past, the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that they were planning to do.”
Dirty bombs don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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There are no kings inside the gates of eden
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces attacked Russia's hold on the southern city of Kherson on Thursday while fighting also intensified in the country's east. The battles came amid reports that Moscow-appointed authorities in Kherson have fled the city, joining tens of thousands of residents who have been evacuated to other Russia-held areas.
Ukrainian forces were surrounding Kherson from the west and attacking Russia’s foothold on the west bank of the Dnieper River, which divides the region and the country.
Amid the battles, Russia issued a warning that the United States could be drawn into the conflict, adding it could target Western commercial satellites used for military purposes in support of Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the United States of pursuing “thoughtless and mad” escalation. She argued that Washington should take a more responsible approach shown during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ‒ when the Cold War superpowers stepped back from the brink of nuclear confrontation.
Ukraine has pushed ahead with an offensive to reclaim the Kherson region and its capital of the same name, which Russian forces captured during the first days of a war now in its ninth month.
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More than 70,000 residents from the Kherson city area have evacuated in recent days, the region's Kremlin-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, said Thursday.
Members of the Russia-backed regional administration were included in the evacuation, the deputy governor, Kirill Stremousov said. Monuments to Russian heroes were moved, along with the remains of Grigory Potemkin, the Russian general who founded Kherson in the 18th century, that were kept at the city’s St. Catherine’s Church.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces continued to bombard the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, making slow gains toward the center.
Amid the heavy combat on two fronts, Russian officials stepped up warns that the West could become part of the conflict.
“The more the U.S. is drawn into supporting the Kyiv regime on the battlefield, the more they risk provoking a direct military confrontation between the biggest nuclear powers fraught with catastrophic consequences,” said Zakharova, the Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman.
“Washington now keeps upping the ante, apparently believing that it’s capable of controlling the escalation,” she said.
The deputy head of Russia’s delegation at a U.N. arms control panel, Konstantin Vorontsov, described the use of U.S. and other Western commercial satellites for military purposes during the fighting in Ukraine as “extremely dangerous.”
“The quasi-civilian infrastructure could be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike,” Vorontsov warned.
As they have all month, Russian forces carried out attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which have caused increasing worry ahead of winter.
A Russian drone attack early Thursday hit an energy facility near the capital of Kyiv, causing a fire, said Kyiv regional Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba. He said the latest attacks inflicted “very serious damage.”
“The Russians are using drones and missiles to destroy Ukraine’s energy system ahead of the winter and terrorize civilians,” Kuleba said in televised remarks.
Kuleba announced new rolling blackouts and urged consumers to save power. He said authorities were still pondering over specifics of the blackouts needed to restore the damaged power facilities.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said rolling blackouts would also be introduced in the neighboring Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr regioms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said earlier that Russian attacks have already destroyed 30% of the country’s energy infrastructure.
In a likely response to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, a power plant was attacked just outside Sevastopol, a port in the Russian-annexed region of Crimea. The plant suffered minor damage in a drone attack, according to city leader Mikhail Razvozhayev. He said electricity supplies were uninterrupted.
Crimea, a region slightly larger than Sicily, was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. It has faced drone attacks and explosions amid the fighting in Ukraine. In a major setback for Russia, a powerful truck bomb blew up a section of a strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia’s mainland on Oct. 8.
A senior Ukrainian military officer accused Russia of planning to stage explosions at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and blame them on Ukraine in a false flag attack.
Gen. Oleksii Gromov, the chief of the main operational department of the Ukrainian military’s general staff, pointed to Moscow's repeated unfounded allegations that Ukraine was plotting to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb as a possible signal that Moscow was planning explosions at the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
Russia took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant in the opening days of the invasion. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking the plant, whose reactors were shut down following continuous shelling.
Gromov also charged Thursday that Russian forces may have staged explosions at residential buildings in the city of Kherson before retreating from the city “to inflict a critical damage to the infrastructure of the areas being reclaimed by Ukraine.”
The war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis is likely to cause global demand for fossil fuels to peak or flatten out, according to a report released Thursday by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, largely due to the fall in Russian exports.
“Today’s energy crisis is delivering a shock of unprecedented breadth and complexity,” the IEA said, releasing its annual report, the World Energy Outlook.
The report said this was forcing the world's more advanced economies to accelerate structural changes toward renewable energy sources. ___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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Putin is waiting out these elections, as well as a winter in Europe that is going to see higher energy costs and discomfort. Pro-Putin politicians will see a bump, people will argue whether or not Ukraine is worth it, and Ukraine will lose support, weapons, and funding. Once that dries up, the situation becomes much more favorable for Russia to grab all that they want, demand "Peace" when they want, and walk away pretending to be the good guy.
He is playing by his own rules. Nobody will touch him
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Nobody can touch him
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Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals told The Associated Press.
They said the Russians want to attract thousands of the former elite Afghan commandos into a “foreign legion” with offers of steady, $1,500-a-month payments and promises of safe havens for themselves and their families so they can avoid deportation home to what many assume would be death at the hands of the Taliban.
“They don’t want to go fight — but they have no choice,” said one of the generals, Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, adding that the dozen or so commandos in Iran with whom he has texted fear deportation most. “They ask me, ‘Give me a solution. What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’”
Arghandiwal said the recruiting is led by the Russian mercenary force Wagner Group. Another general, Hibatullah Alizai, the last Afghan army chief before the Taliban took over, said the effort is also being helped by a former Afghan special forces commander who lived in Russia and speaks the language.
The Russian recruitment follows months of warnings from U.S. soldiers who fought with Afghan special forces that the Taliban was intent on killing them and that they might join with U.S. enemies to stay alive or out of anger with their former ally.
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A GOP congressional report in August specifically warned of the danger that the Afghan commandos — trained by U.S. Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets — could end up giving up information about U.S. tactics to the Islamic State group, Iran or Russia — or fight for them.
“We didn’t get these individuals out as we promised, and now it’s coming home to roost,” said Michael Mulroy, a retired CIA officer who served in Afghanistan, adding that the Afghan commandos are highly skilled, fierce fighters. “I don’t want to see them in any battlefield, frankly, but certainly not fighting the Ukrainians.”
Mulroy was skeptical, however, that Russians would be able to persuade many Afghan commandos to join because most he knew were driven by the desire to make democracy work in their country rather than being guns for hire.
AP was investigating the Afghan recruiting when details of the effort were first reported by Foreign Policy magazine last week based on unnamed Afghan military and security sources. The recruitment comes as Russian forces reel from Ukrainian military advances and Russian President Vladimir Putin pursues a sputtering mobilization effort, which has prompted nearly 200,000 Russian men to flee the country to escape service.
Russia's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Yevgeny Prigozhin, who recently acknowledged being the founder of the Wagner Group, dismissed the idea of an ongoing effort to recruit former Afghan soldiers as “crazy nonsense.”
The U.S. Defense Department also didn’t reply to a request for comment, but a senior official suggested the recruiting is not surprising given that Wagner has been trying to sign up soldiers in several other countries.
It’s unclear how many Afghan special forces members who fled to Iran have been courted by the Russians, but one told the AP he is communicating through the WhatsApp chat service with about 400 other commandos who are considering offers.
He said many like him fear deportation and are angry at the U.S. for abandoning them.
“We thought they might create a special program for us, but no one even thought about us,” said the former commando, who requested anonymity because he fears for himself and his family. “They just left us all in the hands of the Taliban.”
The commando said his offer included Russian visas for himself as well as his three children and wife who are still in Afghanistan. Others have been offered extensions of their visas in Iran. He said he is waiting to see what others in the WhatsApp groups decide but thinks many will take the deal.
U.S. veterans who fought with Afghan special forces have described to the AP nearly a dozen cases, none confirmed independently, of the Taliban going house to house looking for commandos still in the country, torturing or killing them, or doing the same to family members if they are nowhere to be found.
Human Rights Watch has said more than 100 former Afghan soldiers, intelligence officers and police were killed or forcibly “disappeared” just three months after the Taliban took over despite promises of amnesty. The United Nations in a report in mid-October documented 160 extrajudicial killings and 178 arrests of former government and military officials.
The brother of an Afghan commando in Iran who has accepted the Russian offer said Taliban threats make it difficult to refuse. He said his brother had to hide for three months after the fall of Kabul, shuttling between relatives’ houses while the Taliban searched his home.
“My brother had no other choice other than accepting the offer,” said the commando’s brother, Murad, who would only give his first name because of fear the Taliban might track him down. “This was not an easy decision for him.”
Former Afghan army chief Alizai said much of the Russian recruiting effort is focused on Tehran and Mashhad, a city near the Afghan border where many have fled. None of the generals who spoke to the AP, including a third, Abdul Jabar Wafa, said their contacts in Iran know how many have taken up the offer.
“You get military training in Russia for two months, and then you go to the battle lines,” read one text message a former Afghan soldier in Iran sent to Arghandiwal. “A number of personnel have gone, but they have lost contact with their families and friends altogether. The exact statistics are unclear.”
An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Afghan special forces fought with the Americans during the two-decade war, and only a few hundred senior officers were airlifted out when the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan. Since many of the Afghan commandos did not work directly for the U.S. military, they were not eligible for special U.S. visas.
“They were the ones who fought to the really last minute. And they never, never, never talked to the Taliban. They never negotiated,” Alizai said. “Leaving them behind is the biggest mistake.”
___
Condon reported from New York. AP writers Rahim Faiez in Islamabad and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
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