Russia extends its nuclear threat after seizing the Zaporizhia plant while the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine grows

Ukraine wakes up at war for the ninth consecutive day and increasingly surrounded by Vladimir Putin’s Russian troops, who at dawn on Friday have struck a major blow in the territory by taking control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest plant in all of Europe, after bombing the area. A really dangerous action that could have led to a catastrophe “ten times greater” than the one that occurred in Chernobyl, as reported by the Ukrainian authorities and the president himself, Volodímir Zelenski.

The rapid action of the firefighters has managed to avoid greater evils and, for the moment, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, no “changes in radiation levels” have been recorded. There have also been no preliminary victims or injuries, as reported by the Ukrainian Emergency Service. Thus, the staff of the plant, already besieged by the Kremlin, continues to control the state of the blocks and guarantees their correct operation. This offensive, which has not taken long to be denounced by Ukraine and the West, takes place just a few hours after the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

The meeting, held in the Belarusian region of Brest, near the Polish border, ended with the agreement to establish humanitarian corridors and the possibility of activating a temporary ceasefire that, for the moment, has not been put into operation. Meanwhile, Putin’s Army, far from awaiting the outcome of these negotiations, continues to operate to take over the country’s main cities. Mariupola Ukrainian city of almost half a million inhabitants and a key player in this conflict, is both a witness and a victim of it.

There the attacks are being tremendous, to such an extent that the mayor, Vadym Boychenko, has assured that are being situated like the old Leningrad -current St. Petersburg-; also, that they have destroyed the vital infrastructure for the functioning of the city, so that they have no water or heating, and has accused the Russian Army of having manipulated the railways to prevent the population from escaping. Putin is believed to want to capture Mariupol to create a corridor from the Crimean peninsula to Donbas.

Kherson, Borodyanka, Chernigov or Kharkov, Ukrainian cities seriously affected by constant Russian attacks

The situation is even worse in Kherson, already in the hands of Russian troops. this very Thursday, the Army considered the city controlled, and the Ukrainian regional authorities were quick to recognize this control. There, right now, civilians are trying to survive as best they can in search of basic resources and supplies because there is a shortage. It is the first large city controlled by Russian troops, who gradually continue to approach the capital, Kiev, despite the fact that the advance is taking place at a slower pace than Putin initially expected. In fact, according to British and American information, that advance of the Russian forces has stopped.

Thus, for the time being, the capital is resisting despite the fact that the missile bombardments and artillery fire have intensified. Especially, in the surrounding area, such as Borodyankaa small city just 50 kilometers from Kiev that has already been completely devastated after the Russian offensive. Although the number of victims caused by this attack is unknown, it has been reported that these attacks, carried out both by air and by land, have completely destroyed buildings, highways and roads, dealing lethal blows to civilian targets.

In this line, also Chernigovanother city in northern Ukraine and very close to Kiev, is being victim of barbarism. There have been attacks against the civilian population, including the destruction of blocks of flats, residential avenues and commercial areas. All this has caused a continuous mass exodus of civilians that began the same day the war began. More than a million people have left the country in just eight days. To this data, UNICEF has added that about half are minors. In addition, more than a million people have been forced to move within Ukraine to flee hot spots.

New sanctions to stop the war

The situation throughout Ukraine remains alarmingly worrying, prompting President Zelensky to appeal to Putin for you to sit with him with the aim of resolving the situation quickly and without nuances. “I have to talk to Putin. The world has to talk to Putin, because there is no other way to end this war,” said the country’s leader, who has nevertheless called for a close conversation with his Russian counterpart, referring to to the distance that this respect takes from its interlocutors to deal with these issues, as it has done with the president of France: “I’m your neighbor, don’t put me on a table 30 meters away. I don’t bite”.

Precisely, Emmanuel Macron, who met Putin again this Thursday to try to advance in that dialogue for peace, warned at the end of the meeting that “the worst is yet to come” in this war. According to sources reported by the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’, Macron warned Putin that he was “fooling” himself and assured him that this war is going to “cost dearly” for Russia, which will end up “isolated, weakened and under sanctions for a long time“. The truth is that the Russian country has not been slow to notice the serious consequences after the start of this war.

The package of sanctions implemented by the EU, which includes the freezing of the assets of Putin, his entourage and the Russian Central Bank abroad, the expulsion of several Russian banks from the SWIFT system or the prohibition of Russian airlines operating on European territory, is already having a huge impact to the Russian economy, with the ruble plummeting by more than 30% and with the “beginning of the collapse” of its financial structure, as numerous experts have already indicated. Notably The Moscow Stock Exchange has been closed for five consecutive daysand will remain so, at least, until Tuesday to contain the fall of Russian companies, according to a statement from the country’s Central Bank.

Along these lines, from Europe, the Foreign Ministers of the European Union and NATO are meeting this Friday with the aim of discussing the next steps to be taken at the political and military level in the face of the invasion after the European Commission has advanced that it is studying new rounds of sanctions against Moscow. According to diplomatic sources, all options are on the table and new port closures to Russian ships or the approval of new blacklists of oligarchs and Putin collaborators are pointed out as possible upcoming sanctions against Russia.