atomic plant
Ukraine has lost control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the country’s north after a fierce battle with Russian forces, Ukraine’s presidential advisor said on Thursday.
Speaking to Ukraine’s Unian news agency, Mykhailo Podolyak said the latest Russian move constitutes one of the biggest threats to European security.
Earlier, the Ukrainian president said that Russian forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
With an obvious reference to the importance of the site, where a devastating nuclear accident occurred in 1986, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe.”
The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.
That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations.
As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.
The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations.
As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.
They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.
Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.
President Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms
Meanwhile US President Joe Biden unveiled harsh new sanctions against Russia on Thursday after Moscow launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine, imposing measures to impede Russia’s ability to do business in the world’s major currencies, along with sanctions against banks and state-owned enterprises.
“This is a premeditated attack,” Biden told reporters at the White House, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected attempts by the West to engage in dialogue and had violated international law. “Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences.”
Biden said the sanctions were designed to have a long-term impact on Russia and to minimise the impact on the US and its allies. And he said Washington was prepared to do more.
Biden said the sanctions would limit Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen.
Biden said Nato would meet on Friday to map out further measures. He reiterated that the US would not engage in war with Russia, but that it would meet its Article 5 commitments to defend Nato partners.
Biden said this was a dangerous moment for all of Europe, and that he had authorised troops that had been placed on standby to deploy to Germany.
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