The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is now under constant threat of a nuclear accident. After the capture of southern Ukrainian territory by Moscow last March, the situation has especially deteriorated since August. Every day, the missile strikes, of which Moscow and kyiv accuse each other, come a little closer, causing dangerous power cuts repeatedly. We reached a point of tension this weekend, with a “good dozen” shots reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAE).
- The director of the IAE calls to “stop this madness”
According to an inventory drawn up on Monday, November 21, “extensive damage was observed” in various places even if “important equipment remains intact”. “Whoever it is, stop this madness!” Urged the director general of the IAE assuring that “it is absolutely deliberate, targeted”. If the key safety systems were not damaged, “the bombardment came dangerously close. We are talking about meters, not kilometers”, declared the head of the UN body. “The direct impact on reactors and adjacent equipment, particularly where spent fuel is stored, could have serious consequences,” he warned in September.
The other risk is that of a prolonged power cut, when the main network has already been damaged several times by the bombardments, even if alternatives exist. Electricity is essential to run the pumps ensuring the circulation of water and to cool the fuel of the cores of the reactors and the storage pools, in order to avoid a fuel meltdown accident and radioactive releases into the environment like this was the case for Fukushima in 2011. On Monday, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky supported during an urgent appeal “the absolute need to preserve the security and safety” of the Zaporijia nuclear power plant.
- Washington denounces “systemic war crimes”
Russia has engaged in “systemic war crimes” wherever it has deployed troops in Ukraine, Beth Van Schaack, a diplomat in charge of international criminal justice at the US State Department, charged Monday. Citing summary executions, cases of torture or inhuman treatment or even the forced displacement of people and children, she said she was confident that in the long term Russian officials will have to account for them in court. The day before, four new “torture sites” had been discovered in the region recently taken over by the Ukrainians of Kherson, occupied for nearly 8 months by the Russians before their forced retreat ten days ago.
The ICC opened an investigation into the war in Ukraine shortly after the Russian-led invasion on February 24, and a European Joint Investigation Team into alleged crimes committed there has also been set up by Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine with the support of the European judicial agency Eurojust. As for the creation of a special tribunal, demanded by Ukraine, the American diplomat expressed “discussions still in progress” in particular within the General Assembly of the United Nations. She indicated that the United States was rather in favor of “existing institutions” to try possible war crimes or crimes of humanity. Referring to a “new Nuremberg”, in reference to the trials of Nazi officials after the Second World War, Beth Van Schaack said she was confident that the investigations currently being carried out could lead to indictments in due time.
“When you see such systemic acts, including the establishment of a vast network of forced displacements, it is very difficult to imagine that these crimes could have been committed without the responsibility being placed at the top of the chain. of command”, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin, added the senior official. Asked about videos which Moscow says prove that kyiv executed several Russian soldiers, she insisted that “the laws of war apply to all parties, both the aggressor state and the defending state”. .
- Ukrainian government calls on Kherson residents to evacuate for winter
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for the reintegration of temporarily occupied territories in Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, on Monday evening called on the inhabitants of Kherson to “evacuate for the winter to safer regions of the country”, especially women, children and elderly people.
In kyiv, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, warned the same day that winter will threaten the lives of millions of Ukrainians, after the series of devastating Russian strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure. “To put it simply, this winter will be about survival,” he added. “We expect two to three million more people to leave their homes in search of warmth and security,” he estimates.
- France mobilizes 100 million for Moldova
The international community announced Monday, November 21, during a national conference in support of Moldova, new financial aid for this collateral victim of the war in Ukraine. A small country of 2.6 million inhabitants, Moldova has been a candidate since the end of June 2022 for entry into the European Union. It bears the brunt of the consequences of the war, particularly in terms of energy. This third meeting of the “international platform of support for Moldova” took place in a particular context of “gas blackmail” on the part of Russia, noted French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. The Russian company Gazprom has halved its gas exports to Chisinau, and “electricity exports from Ukraine are no longer possible due to the bombardments on Ukrainian infrastructure”, noted the minister.
In this context, France announced Monday, November 21 additional aid of 100 million euros for the small country. “To fight for Moldova today is to participate in the war effort that we are leading, alongside Ukraine”, supported Emmanuel Macron during the conference. In a recent interview with AFP, the Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova estimated at 1.1 billion euros the need for additional funding to cover the country’s energy costs this winter, not to mention the financial needs to ensure humanitarian aid. . Some 80,000 Ukrainians are already refugees in Moldova, which represents a significant cost for the small country, and Moldova expects a new wave of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the cold.
The country is also the victim of attempts at political destabilization by Russia, which has placed soldiers in the progressing separatist region of Transnistria. Moldovan President Maia Sandu also accused Russia of being behind the trafficking of arms, goods, human trafficking or financing anti-government protests. She called on all of her partners “to punish high-flying criminals who steal and threaten democracy”.
- The war in Ukraine responsible for the largest European displacement since the 1940s
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to “the largest forced displacement of people in Europe since the 1940s”, noted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Tuesday 22 November. In her report entitled “Business Unusual”, she believes that the world will not resume “as if nothing had happened” after the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, such as the upheaval of the economy and the massive influx of refugees.
However, the influx of Ukrainian refugees also has “the potential to increase the European Union’s workforce by around 0.5% by the end of 2022”, adds the organization. “This could alleviate some labor shortages in Europe’s rapidly aging economies.” The report reveals that nearly three out of ten Ukrainian refugees in Europe are already employed in their host country. Almost two-thirds of all refugees in the world come from Syria, Ukraine, the West Bank and Gaza, Venezuela or Afghanistan, and almost half are children.