#ukraine bus hostage

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 3.16 (after 1970)

1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War. 1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped; he is later murdered by his captors. 1978 – A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near Gabare, Bulgaria, killing 73. 1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time. 1979 – Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ending the war. 1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Lebanon, is kidnapped by Hezbollah; he later dies in captivity. 1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut; he is not released until December 1991. 1988 – Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. 1988 – Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people. 1988 – The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three persons, one of them a member of PIRA are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded. 1995 – Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865. 2001 – A series of bomb blasts in the city of Shijiazhuang, China kill 108 people and injure 38 others, the biggest mass murder in China in decades. 2003 – American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah by being run over by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer while trying to obstruct the demolition of a home. 2005 – Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control. 2010 – The Kasubi Tombs, Uganda's only cultural World Heritage Site, are destroyed in a fire. 2012 – Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket. 2014 – Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia. 2016 – A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 30. 2016 – Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 24 and injuring 18. 2020 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929). This follows the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing that it will cut its target interest rate to 0–0.25%. 2021 – Atlanta spa shootings: Eight people are killed and one is injured in a trio of shootings at spas in and near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. A suspect is arrested the same day. 2022 – A 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurs off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, killing 4 people and injuring 225.

[swldx]

Voice of America 0311 4 Sep 2024

6080Khz 0259 4 SEP 2024 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 35233. English, s/on @0259z w/Yankee Doodle int fb news anchored by Tommy McNeil @0300z. § The U.S. on Tuesday strongly urged Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire deal to halt nearly 11 months of fighting in Gaza and free the remaining hostages the militants are holding. The U.S. plea for an end to the fighting came after Israel’s military said it had killed a Hamas militant who participated in the October assault on Israel and was seen in a widely viewed video drinking soda in front of two kids who were wounded in a grenade attack that killed their father. § A school bus ploughed into a crowd of people outside a middle school in eastern China on Tuesday, killing 11 people including five students, state media reported. State broadcaster CCTV said the driver "lost control" of the vehicle as it approached the school in Shandong province's Tai'an city at 7:27 am (2327 GMT Monday). The bus ran into a group of parents and children on the side of the road, according to CCTV. § Russian missiles kill at least 51 in attack on Ukrainian military training facility and hospital. Ukrainian authorities said the attack killed at least 51 people and injured nearly 300 others in one of the single deadliest strikes since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. The attack partially destroyed a building used by the Poltava Military Institute of Communications, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. § A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump's request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president's latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing. The ruling leaves Trump's case in state court, where he is scheduled to be sentenced September 18. § As voters prepare to cast their ballots this fall, China has been making its own plans, cultivating networks of fake social media users designed to mimic Americans to use social media to influence and upend America’s political debate. Graphika, a social media analytics firm, issued a report Tuesday warning that a Chinese-linked disinformation operation known as "Spamoflage" has grown increasingly aggressive, though it added that few of the accounts had managed to gain much traction. Graphika's conclusions seem to be consistent with earlier assessments by Meta, the social media company behind Facebook and Instagram, when it first identified the effort last year. "Despite the very large number of accounts and platforms it used, Spamouflage consistently struggled to reach beyond its own [fake] echo chamber," Meta said at the time. "Only a few instances have been reported when Spamouflage content on Twitter and YouTube was amplified by real-world influencers." @0305z “Daybreak Africa” anchored by James Butty (w/African accent). MLA 30 amplified loop (powered w/8 AA rechargeable batteries ~10.8vdc), JRC NRD-535D. 100kW, beamAz 350°, bearing 84°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2159.

[zooterchet]

Slurs Given to Hostage Takers (Peace Agitators by Mercenary, Moslems)

Informers, as police domestic intelligence, have had a long history of slurring those pacifists consorting with the enemy; Moslems, the higher level to the Jewry, as the controllers of hostage labor for a deal with a foreign power for slave labor.

American Revolution: Grifters, those who would rather mend a fence, than build one.

War of 1812: The sheriffs have committed treason, not of fraud but of bill reserved, the Queen, Ben Franklin.

Mexican-American War: An officer and a gentleman, is a serial killer, someone on television, for having a sloped bone skull on his brow.

Civil War: The Greater South, is a grander palais, but not a palace, that is the North.

Spanish-American War: The stars hold bright tonight, now that we have found our ego's passion; the black man, is born again, this time in hatred of Irish currs, nigger devils.

Landing Latino Wars: The banana, is a complex; bombard me with your eight protons of potassium, Marie Curie.

Great War: Two services, was enough, but for one, he'd take nothing.

World War 2: The family always rules the household, and through it, Dune.

Korean Conflict: An egg's stamp timer, is a Marine Corps ballot, off a bus.

Vietnam War: You sand nigger pacifists, want to blow up Kent State's law library; America, is based on education.

Soviet-Afghan War: A President you can't rely on, is the Navy.

Desert Storm: That one legged Iraqi, sure could jump.

War on Poverty: Your father is Satan, and you're the Antichrist.

War on Terror: Islamic economics are going to be around the world.

Ukraine: Karl Marx, is history's greatest monster, notwithstanding Jimmy Carter. 

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 12/24/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 12/24/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

Ukraine

Biden Issues Executive Order Allowing Sanctions on Banks Doing Business with Russia WSJ

Japan to Send Patriot Interceptors to the US, Freeing Up American Supplies to Send to Ukraine BBC

Ukrainian Soldiers Facing Shortage of Artillery Shells WashPo

Western Officials Say Ukraine Will Conduct More Sabotage Attacks Inside of Russia in 2024 NBC News

Israel

UN Security Council Passes Diluted Resolution on Gaza War AWC

IDF Sniper Intentionally Fired on Hostages Suspecting a Hamas Trap NBC News

Israeli Forces Attack Christian Centers in Gaza Identified to Tel Aviv Bu Congressional Staffers Politico

76 Members of Family Killed By Israeli Strikes in Gaza AP

Israel-Linked Ship Hit Over 100 Miles Off Coast of India By Drone Haaretz

NYT Investigation Concludes Israel Used 2,000 Pound Bombs in Areas Deemed Safe Zones NYT

Expert Warns Israel Flooding Gaza Tunnels With Seawater Will “Ruin the Conditions of Life of Everyone” Guardian 

HRW Finds Meta Censoring Palestinian Voices on Facebook and Instagram HRW

Israel Creating Massive Obstacles to Food Deliveries in Gaza Guardian 

Yemen

Saudi Arabia and Houthis Commit to Ceasefire Roadmap Press Release

Biden Preparing to Loosen Restrictions on Weapon Sales to Saudi Arabia NYT

State Department Approves $1 Billion in Military Training for Saudi Arabia Press Release

Read More

[mariacallous]

On the morning of March 2, Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz announced that a “sabotage and reconnaissance group from Ukraine” had crossed into the small border town of Liubechane, allegedly shooting at a vehicle, killing a local resident, and wounding a 10-year-old child. The governor also reported another attack “by Ukraine’s Armed Forces” in the town of Sushany after a drone strike allegedly started a fire in a residential building. Unconfirmed reports soon spread on Telegram that between 40 and 50 “saboteurs” entered the Bryansk region on Thursday. Meduza examines what happened in Thursday’s incursions, what we know about the group responsible (the Russian Volunteer Corps), and how this bizarre incident fits into the war’s larger story.

In the hours that followed the apparent incursions into two towns in Bryansk, Russian state media declined to broadcast any footage from on the ground (perhaps due in part to alleged drone strikes against surveillance cameras at nearby border checkpoints).

Thursday’s reports about events in the two towns outside Bryansk were contradictory, with some state propaganda outlets claiming that a school bus came under gunfire, though local officials later denied this account. Some news outlets also reported that militants took hostages in both towns and later engaged in a firefight with Russian troops. District officials in Sushany, however, never verified that hostages were taken. Some journalists also wrote about explosions at a power substation and gas station in Sushany, but officials didn’t confirm these reports, either.

By evening on Thursday, Russia’s Federal Security Service said it had forced the enemy back into Ukraine and launched a “massive artillery strike” at its positions, though there is not yet any independent verification that this counterattack actually occurred.

Ukrainian officials have been coy about Thursday’s incursion, denying Kyiv’s involvement and calling the incident a “classic provocation,” though some have framed the militants’ actions as a demonstration of a supposedly wider “partisan movement” growing inside Russia. For example, Zelensky administration adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter that “growing poverty” in Russia is fueling a “stronger and more aggressive” partisan movement. “Fear your partisans,” Podolyak tweeted. Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Military Intelligence Directorate, called the incursion “the continuation of Russia’s transformation,” and said, “maybe Russians are starting to wake up, to realize something, and take some concrete steps.”

Shortly after the first reports about an incursion in the Bryansk region, a video circulated online showing two armed men standing in front of a building bearing a sign that read, “Liubechane Medical and Obstetrical Station.” The footage appeared originally on the Telegram channel of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK). In the short clip, the men state that they’re “not at war with civilians,” and they call on “ordinary Russian citizens” to “rise up and fight.” On Telegram, the group also promised more videos that will supposedly refute criticisms and claims made about their “exploits.”

A second video apparently recorded in Liubechane also circulated online showing two men identifying themselves as RDK combatants. In this footage, they raise the blue-and-white Russian Volunteer Corps flag while standing in front of a post office as gunfire is audible in the background.

Journalists at iStories later spoke to a militant who allegedly took part in the incursion. He described a relatively simple operation:

I just got back from there. There were 45 of us on this one. We went in, finished filming, and ambushed two infantry fighting vehicles. I didn’t see any kids wounded, but one border guard was injured. Nobody took any hostages.

Another video apparently recorded by militants who crossed into Sushany also surfaced online, but it features only an unseen narrator and the sound of a single gunshot. The pro-invasion Telegram channel Voennyi Osvedomitel (Military Informer) also posted a photograph showing a supposed “Ukrainian saboteur” carrying a sign apparently ripped from the exterior wall of the town’s recreation center.

Denis the Menace

The star of the Bryansk incursions (the man in the footage from Liubechane who calls for an uprising) is 38-year-old Denis Kapustin, a neo-Nazi born in Moscow who moved with his family to Germany in 2001, reportedly (and ironically, given his political views today) as Jewish refugees. Within a few months, he secured a permanent residence permit that he would use in the years ahead to build connections with right-wing groups across Europe.

According to journalists at Agentstvo, Kapustin became immersed in the violent cultures of street fighting and soccer hooliganism while living in Germany. Adopting the surname Nikitin (which he still prefers to this day), he was, in his own words, “a street guy and a skinhead, knocking skulls.”

At some point, Nikitin returned to Russia and became involved in the CSKA Moscow fan movement. He also started organizing MMA fighting tournaments that attracted local far-right activists and was soon traveling throughout Europe, engaging members of Germany’s neo-Nazi National Democratic Party and the Italian neo-fascist movement CasaPound. In 2017, extremism expert Robert Claus called Nikitin “a key figure among right-wing extremists in Europe” and “one of the most dangerous neo-Nazis on the continent.”

In 2008, Nikitin sought to commercialize his appeal within the right-wing community and launched his own fashion brand called “White Rex,” which markets clothing with thinly veiled Nazi symbols, like t-shirts that read, “SS for Sweet n’ Sexy,” and apparel featuring neo-Nazi symbols like the Black Sun and the so-called Fourteen Words. Nikitin has endorsed racist precepts common among neo-Nazis, namely white supremacy. (He’s also fond of comparing non-white people to apes.) In 2016, he helped instigate mass brawls between Russian and English soccer fans during the European Football Championship in Marseille, France.

Still organizing MMA tournaments, Nikitin relocated in 2017 to Ukraine, where he established close ties to members of the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian military formation controversial for its early and allegedly continuing association with far-right groups and neo-Nazi ideology. In 2018, for example, Azov International Branch Secretary Olena Semenyaka credited Nikitin with helping her network with far-right activists across Europe, thanks in part to his fluency in German and English. Nikitin even represented Azov at some international conferences.

In 2019, however, German officials banned Nikitin from entering the E.U. for the next 10 years on the grounds that his neo-Nazi activism constitutes a public safety threat. Journalists at Der Spiegel later wrote that the Ukrainian authorities once detained Nikitin on suspicion of drug trafficking, but this report was never confirmed. (Journalists in Ukraine say his case file is classified.)

The Russian Volunteer Corps

In the fall of 2022, Nikitin created the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) “from ethnic Russians” to fight on the side of Ukraine against the invasion. It’s unknown how many fighters there are in the group. (Organizers conceal this information.) In interviews, Nikitin has said that other nationalities have their own specialized volunteer battalions in Ukraine, but there was nothing exclusively for Russians until his unit.

According to Nikitin, RDK started “interacting” with Ukraine’s Armed Forces in August 2022, but it wasn’t recognized as a formal unit within the military. “I had to get to the president of Ukraine to declare ourselves and ask for the chance to fight officially. The president gave the green light, and everything started moving in a single day,” Nikitin claims. In October 2022, RDK published its own manifesto where it identified itself as “part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.” But Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the military’s ties to the group.

Citing “various ideological differences,” Nikitin has also been clear that the Russian Volunteer Corps does not collaborate with militants in the Freedom of Russia Legion (another unit comprising Russian nationals fighting on Ukraine’s side).

Not likely a Russian false flag

In 2019, a high-ranking German intelligence officer told Der Spiegel that Nikitin is “perhaps closer to the Russian authorities than we can currently prove.” Then and now, however, other experts say it’s unlikely that Nikitin has ties to Russia’s special services, partly because he’s spent the last several years living in Ukraine.

Following the first reports on March 2 about the incursions into the Bryansk region, multiple news outlets claimed that Russia’s National Security Council would hold an emergency meeting later in the day to discuss the attacks. If the meeting had actually happened and led to the rapid adoption of new war measures, that might suggest that the Kremlin knew in advance about the incursions and planned its response. But Vladimir Putin’s spokesman soon clarified that the next National Security Council meeting wouldn’t be until March 3, as previously scheduled. Meanwhile, an anonymous source in the Federation Council told Verstka Media that the president would meet later in the day with individual Security Council members to craft a response to Thursday’s events.

Putin eventually made a public statement, speaking via teleconference at a teachers’ ceremony, denouncing the incursions as a “terrorist attack.”

Not the first incursion into Russia

In December 2022, Russia’s Federal Security Service reported multiple attempted “sabotage and terrorist acts” in the Bryansk region. On December 26, for example, the FSB said border guards killed four Ukrainian combatants in an alleged “sabotage group” that crossed into Russia with plans to commit “terrorist attacks.” The agency also released a video showing bloodied bodies lying in the snow and later named the dead men — allegedly fighters from the Bratstvo Battalion, a volunteer group of Ukrainian special forces without formal ties to the military. (Bratstvo was founded in 2002 by Ukrainian nationalist Dmytro Korchynsky, who fought with Ukrainian volunteers against Russian troops in Chechnya in 1996 and unsuccessfully ran for Ukraine’s presidency in 2004.)

Journalists at The Insider noted several oddities and inconsistencies in the FSB’s video, like the fact that the killed “saboteurs” are wearing clean boots despite allegedly having marched many miles to cross the border. Additionally, the Bratstvo Battalion isn’t previously known to have participated in any operations behind enemy lines.

Following December’s alleged incursion, officials in Bryansk reported the completion of reinforcements to fortifications in the defense line along the border with Ukraine. Judging by published photographs, the new barricades comprised various structures and “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank barriers.

Together with United Russia party boss Andrey Turchak, Governor Bogomaz personally inspected the upgraded defense line. With characteristic hyperbole, Turchak declared that the new fortifications were “groundbreaking.” “Not even a mouse will slip through,” he added.

The security situation at Russia’s borders (and a potential motive for Ukraine in Bryansk)

In 2004, Russia’s Border Service abandoned its “linear” approach and adopted a region-focused strategy. The policy involved major cutbacks, abolishing numerous posts along the border. A year later, the State Duma replaced Russia’s border troops with an array of border-control agencies, significantly reducing the number of combat units on guard duty.

It’s possible that the incursion into the Bryansk region was intended to demonstrate the weakness of Russia’s current border defenses. After Thursday’s “sabotage” incident, Moscow might find it necessary to deploy reinforcements throughout the area, drawing Russian soldiers away from other parts of the frontline inside Ukraine.

[digimakacademy]

ukraine bus hostage एका चित्रपटासाठी त्याने केले बसचे अपहरण!

ukraine bus hostage एका चित्रपटासाठी त्याने केले बसचे अपहरण!

[ad_1]

किव: खंडणी, तुरुंगातून गुन्हेगाराची सुटका, शत्रू देशाविरोधात कारवाई आदी वेगवेगळ्या कारणांसाठी बस, विमानांचे अपहरण करण्यात आल्याच्या घटना घडल्या आहेत. मात्र, युक्रेनमध्ये एकाने बसचे अपहरण करत अनेकांना ओलीस ठेवले होते. या ओलीस नाट्याचा शेवटही एखाद्या चित्रपटाला साजेशा असा झाला. ज्या कारणासाठी बसचे अपहरण करण्यात आले ते कारण ऐकून अधिकारीही चक्रावून गेले. युक्रेनमधील लुट्स्क शहरात सोमवारी एका…

[latestbreakingnewsupdates]

Ukraine hostage standoff: Gunman frees captives after documentary demand is met

Ukraine hostage standoff: Gunman frees captives after documentary demand is met

All 13 folks taken hostage on a bus in western Ukraine had been freed unhurt on Tuesday after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke by cellphone with the hostage-taker and agreed to his demand to endorse a 2005 animal rights documentary.

Police arrested the suspect, whom the state safety service (SBU) recognized as 44-year-old Maksym Kryvosh, who seized the bus within the metropolis of Lutsk,…

[laikainfo]

ВЛАДИМИР ЗЕЛЕНСКИЙ ВСТУПИЛ В ПЕРЕГОВОРЫ С ТЕРРОРИСТОМ, ЗАХВАТИВШИМ АВТОБУС / VLADIMIR ZELENSKY ENTERED INTO NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE TERRORIST WHO SEIZED THE BUS Утром 21 июля в украинском городе Луцк неизвестный захватил автобус с более чем 10 людьми, взяв их в заложники. Преступник имеет при себе взрывчатку и оружие, в области был введен оперативный план Заложник, сообщает https://nv.ua. Имя захватчика Мак��им Кривош, правоохранители ведут с ним переговоры. "Один человек ранен. Одна беременная. Один ребенок", - заявил террорист журналистам телеканала НТА. В настоящее время центр города перекрыт, а на месте событий работают все службы полиции. Известно, что преступник выдвинул правоохранителям свои условия, в настоящий момент с ним ведутся телефонные переговоры. Помимо этого, по сообщениям СМИ, на месте были слышны выстрелы. Трех заложников освободили из захваченного автобуса после того, как президент Владимир Зеленский поговорил с террористом, который называет себя Максим Плохой, сообщает https://nv.ua со ссылкой на офис президента. Подробности событий с Луцке на https://laikainfo.com. In the morning of July 21 in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk, an unknown person seized a bus with more than 10 people, taking them hostage. The criminal has explosives and weapons in his possession, and a Hostage operation plan was introduced in the area. The name of the invader is Maxim Krivosh, law enforcement officers are negotiating with him. Three hostages were freed from a hijacked bus after President Vladimir Zelensky spoke to the terrorist. #украина #Луцк #захват #автобус #заложники #преступник #взрывчатка #оружие #Максим #Кривош #Зеленский #Ukraine #Lutsk #capture #bus #hostages #criminal #explosives #weapons #Maxim #Krivosh #Zelensky (at Украина) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC6mtpugqNx/?igshid=1d2b7klqavrjq

[rpnnews]

Shots heard as bus passengers taken hostage in western Ukraine | Ukraine News A man who said he was armed with weapons and explosives has seized control of a bus in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, taking about 20 people on board hostage, according to police.

[weelectronicstudentreviewstuff]

Shots Heard As Bus Passengers Taken Hostage In Western Ukraine: Police The man's demands were unknown, police said in a statement (Representational) KYIV: A man who said he was armed with weapons and explosives seized control of a bus in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk on Tuesday and took about 20 people on board hostage, police said.

[should-the-war-in-ukraine-spur]

Should the war in Ukraine spur a nuclear security rethink?

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nuclear facilities have been caught up in the midst of conventional warfare for the first time in history. That nightmare scenario is one that few of the industry’s players had anticipated. In Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces represent a lingering threat to the most basic rules of nuclear security.

On the way to Chernobyl along the Dnipro River, a two-hour drive from Kyiv, the imprint left by Russia’s occupation remains, two months after an ordeal that lasted from the February 24 invasion until March 31. Most bridges have been destroyed and our driver warns us to stay on the pavement as landmines lurk beyond.

After the invasion, the exclusion zone around Chernobyl – a 30-kilometre radius around the notorious nuclear plant near Ukraine’s border with Belarus – made global headlines once again. For some 35 days, Chernobyl personnel had to abide the Russian soldiers who seemed oblivious to the dangers inherent in a nuclear site.

“They had a very low level of knowledge. They didn’t understand that the soil here is contaminated, that one mustn’t touch it, and certainly not dig trenches in it,” recounted Ruslan, a technician at the plant, waiting for his bus into work. “And yet that’s what they did and it spurred an increased level of radioactivity at the site. Happily, management handled the situation well.”

Chernobyl shift chief Valentin Geïko became a national hero after he was able to tell various media how he resisted the orders of Russian officers with no scientific knowledge and with ambiguous intentions. Geïko’s sense of humour and his determination helped the plant’s personnel cope while they were held hostage for 20 days, until Russian soldiers finally allowed their colleagues in to relieve them of their duties.

With Russia’s invasion, Chernobyl had the world’s nuclear experts in a cold sweat all over again. Deactivated sensors, troop movements on contaminated soil, and a plant disconnected from the electrical network from March 9 to 14 had specialists fearing the worst.

Sergei, another plant employee, can still hardly believe it, after seeing “the barbarians” turn up inside the exclusion zone that has been insulating the damaged reactor since 1986. “They pillaged everything, broke technical material, equipment. But happily, they didn’t damage the cooling system, which could have provoked a catastrophe.”

Indeed, the Chernobyl nuclear site remains active 36 years after the worst nuclear accident in history. The dismantling of the site’s four reactors is still in progress and, most importantly, some 22,000 highly radioactive spent fuel assemblies are being kept in storage pools that require constant cooling. Another major activity at the site is the surveillance of the 100-plus metre sarcophagus completed in 2019, which isolates the reactor that “melted” during the 1986 disaster.

In Zaporizhzhia, a menacing and disconcerting occupation

While Russian soldiers have now left the Chernobyl site, allowing the plant to return to a level of risk deemed acceptable by international standards, the Zaporizhzhia plant’s occupation, ongoing since March 4, has made for some surreal and worrisome scenes on the other side of the country. The images of artillery fire targeting buildings inside the plant’s enclosure spurred major concern, although no nuclear incident came of it.

Ukrainian authorities said 500 soldiers settled in at the site, with 50-odd military vehicles, including tanks, weapons and explosives of all sorts; an arsenal entirely incompatible with the most basic security rules inside the walls of a nuclear facility.

“Nobody had ever imagined that one could open fire on a nuclear power plant, the way the Russians did in Zaporizhzhia,” said Petro Kotin, president of Energoatom, the public company in charge of nuclear energy in Ukraine. “Today, they are using it as a military base because the perimeter is well protected by walls and video surveillance. They also use the cafeteria and the canteen to better the daily life of their soldiers,” he said thoughtfully. “We have the impression that they themselves don’t understand the objective of occupying the plant. They came, they occupied and they didn’t really know what to do with it.”

Indeed, neither the Russian soldiers nor the 10 to 15 technicians from Rosatom, the powerful Russian civil nuclear energy firm, on site at Zaporizhzhia tried to get their hands on nuclear fuel. Moreover, the plant’s two functioning reactors (out of six in total) are still supplying electricity to the Ukrainian network and powering the cooling systems of the largest nuclear plant in Europe.

Could Russia’s objective be to use the site as a spoil of war to supply electricity to Crimea or other territories? Russia’s deputy prime minister appeared to indicate as much during a visit to Zaporizhzhia last week. “If Ukraine is ready to pay, then (the plant) can operate for Ukraine. If not, then it will operate for Russia,” said Marat Khusnullin, as cited by Russian press agencies.

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“For the moment, it is impossible to connect Zaporizhzhia to the Russian electrical network,” Kotin retorted. “For that, one would need to build 200 to 400 kilometres of lines, which would cost more than €500 million and could take two years. But with time and money, the Russians can do it, of course. Look at the means they deployed to build a bridge between Crimea and the Russian Federation” between 2014 and 2018, he added.

The challenge of nuclear security in wartime

Those in the civil nuclear industry believe it is vital to deliberate on the issue of nuclear security in wartime. Terrorist attack scenarios had been considered in the past. But in light of the Russian invasion, the matter of adopting international rules is now on the table.

Over the past three months, Ukrainian authorities have been calling – so far without success – for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to commit its members to respecting a five-kilometre perimeter around nuclear facilities inside of which no military forces can be permitted to penetrate.

For now, the Ukrainian government has reinforced the defence of its nuclear sites. “We now have soldiers equipped with Javelin and NLAW anti-tank missiles to protect the nuclear plants. In Zaporizhzhia, we were taken by surprise; there was not yet a single weapon on site. I don’t know specifically what military means were deployed. That is confidential information that I don’t have access to,” said Kotin.

The head of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants has meanwhile forbidden the transport of nuclear material anywhere on Ukrainian territory for security reason. Moving the fuel needed for the reactors to operate will just have to wait until the end of the war. The measure shouldn’t hamper the functioning of Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure because the country’s authorities followed the advice of American experts dispatched after war began in the Donbas in 2014.

“We followed their recommendation to build new nuclear fuel storage units on Ukrainian soil that would allow our plants to operate for two years. If ever the war were to last more than two years, we’ll see what we have to do then,” Kotin explained.

In Ukraine, the prospect of peace seems a distant one. But the long run is just the sort of timeline that the civil nuclear industry needs to guarantee optimal nuclear security. In the short term, the threat of a battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces for control of the Zaporizhzhia plant cannot be dismissed, with Ukraine displaying its willingness to reclaim all of its occupied territory in the months to come. The prospect of high-intensity combat for control of a nuclear facility? A nightmare, for Europe as a whole.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.6 (after 1940)

1940 – King Carol II of Romania abdicates and is succeeded by his son Michael. General Ion Antonescu becomes the Conducător of Romania. 1943 – The Monterrey Institute of Technology is founded in Monterrey, Mexico as one of the largest and most influential private universities in Latin America. 1943 – Pennsylvania Railroad's premier train derails at Frankford Junction in Philadelphia, killing 79 people and injuring 117 others. 1944 – World War II: The city of Ypres, Belgium is liberated by Allied forces. 1944 – World War II: Soviet forces capture the city of Tartu, Estonia. 1946 – United States Secretary of State James F. Byrnes announces that the U.S. will follow a policy of economic reconstruction in postwar Germany. 1952 – A prototype aircraft crashes at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire, England, killing 29 spectators and the two on board. 1955 – Istanbul's Greek, Jewish, and Armenian minorities are the target of a government-sponsored pogrom; dozens are killed in ensuing riots. 1962 – The United States government begins the Exercise Spade Fork nuclear readiness drill. 1962 – Archaeologist Peter Marsden discovers the first of the Blackfriars Ships dating back to the second century AD in the Blackfriars area of the banks of the River Thames in London. 1965 – India retaliates following Pakistan's Operation Grand Slam which results in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 that ends in a stalemate followed by the signing of the Tashkent Declaration. 1966 – Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, is stabbed to death in Cape Town, South Africa during a parliamentary meeting. 1968 – Swaziland becomes independent. 1970 – Two passenger jets bound from Europe to New York are simultaneously hijacked by Palestinian terrorist members of the PFLP and taken to Dawson's Field, Jordan. 1971 – Paninternational Flight 112 crashes on the Bundesautobahn 7 highway near Hamburg Airport, in Hamburg, Germany, killing 22. 1972 – Munich massacre: Nine Israeli athletes die (along with a German policeman) at the hands of the Palestinian "Black September" terrorist group after being taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games. Two other Israeli athletes were slain in the initial attack the previous day. 1983 – The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, stating that its operatives did not know that it was a civilian aircraft when it reportedly violated Soviet airspace. 1985 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 crashes near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing all 31 people on board. 1986 – In Istanbul, two terrorists from Abu Nidal's organization kill 22 and wound six congregants inside the Neve Shalom Synagogue during Shabbat services. 1991 – The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 1991 – The Russian parliament approves the name change of Leningrad back to Saint Petersburg. The change is effective October 1. 1992 – A group of hunters at the Stampede trail near Healy, Alaska came across a male corpse in abandoned bus, later identified as Christopher McCandless. 1995 – Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking a record that had stood for 56 years. 1997 – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people line the streets and 21⁄2 billion watch around the world on television. 2007 – Israel executes the air strike Operation Orchard to destroy a nuclear reactor in Syria. 2022 – Boris Johnson resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and is replaced by Liz Truss. Their meetings with Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle were the Queen's final official duties before her death two days later. 2022 – Russo-Ukrainian War: Ukraine begins its Kharkiv counteroffensive, surprising Russian forces and retaking over 3,000 square kilometers of land, recapturing the entire Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River, within the next week.

[deepartnature]

Mariupol remembered: a bright future reduced to rubble

“Maryna Holovnova used to enjoy her summer routine in her southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Before starting work for the day as a tourist guide, the 28-year-old would wake early, jog along the beach and swim in the Azov Sea at sunrise. Afterwards, she would take the bus across the city and drink her morning coffee on her favourite bench in a chestnut-tree-filled alley in Mariupol’s historic centre. On the weekends, she would cycle on newly laid roads to remote fisher villages to camp overnight, passing sunflower fields and people selling watermelons along the way. In the summer seasons of recent years, visitors had discovered Maryna’s city, a place straddled by a sprawling seaport and gargantuan steelworks, turning it into a popular holiday destination. In the humid, Mediterranean weather, tourists would throng the pier and seaside, wading out hundreds of metres into the world's shallowest sea. ...”

Aljazeera

Aljazeera: Six months on, the Russia-Ukraine war mapped out

NY Times: In Ukraine, a Nuclear Plant Held Hostage

A view shows a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works behind buildings damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 28, 2022.

[orbemnews]

Detained Belarusian dissident appears in video as fury mounts over 'hijacking' of Ryanair flight “The attitude of the [Interior Ministry] employees towards me has been as correct as possible and in compliance with the law,” Protasevich says in the video, which was posted Monday evening to a pro-government social media channel. “I continue to cooperate with the investigation and have confessed to organizing mass riots in the city of Minsk,” he also says. His supporters believe the video was made under duress. The 26-year-old dissident was traveling on Ryanair flight 4978 from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania on Sunday when shortly before touchdown the plane was diverted by Belarusian air traffic control to the capital Minsk over a supposed security alert. Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary accused Belarus of “state-sponsored piracy,” telling Ireland’s Newstalk radio Monday that he believed Belarusian KGB agents were also on the flight that was carrying 26-year-old Protasevich, who is wanted in Belarus on a variety of charges. Similarly, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that secret service agents may have been on the plane, telling national broadcaster RTÉ that the agents were “clearly linked to the Belarusian regime.” “When the plane landed, either five or six people didn’t reboard the plane before it took off again, but only one or two people were actually arrested, so that certainly would suggest that a number of the other people who left the plane were secret service,” he added. Belarus borders three European Union member states — Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland — and EU leaders were discussing further action against Lukashenko’s government on Monday, with global leaders calling on airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace, their citizens to leave the country and for the opposition activist’s release. Fears of torture, abuse As the world turns its focus to Belarus, Protasevich’s supporters are calling foul on Lukashenko’s tactics. Critics of the Belarusian strongman, including exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said that the video released on Monday appeared to be filmed under duress. “This is how Roman looks under physical and moral pressure,” she tweeted shortly after the statement surfaced. CNN cannot independently verify those claims but activists and protesters detained in recent months have reported suffering serious abuses and being forced to make confessions. The video also comes as Protasevich’s father, Dmitry Protasevich, told CNN on Monday that he fears his son faces torture and physical abuse at the hands of Belarusian authorities. “We are very worried as we expect that tortures and physical abuse can be applied to our son, although we hope that won’t happen. But knowing the KGB methods of work, they even resort to tortures and abuse,” he said, adding: “They have been after Roman for a long time.” Dmitry Protasevich, who was stripped of his military title of Lieutenant Colonel by Lukashenko, described the Belarusian leader as a “vengeful person” who is scared of public exposure to the actions of his government and “scared of people talking openly about what is happening” in the country. Protasevich’s parents left Belarus in August 2020 after the presidential elections, fearing they would be pursued due to their son’s activism. “We understood very well that the authorities will stop at nothing,” Dmitry said. “We feared that we, as Roman’s parents, could become hostages and through us, they could put pressure on him.” Protasevich’s father said he considers his son to be a “hero,” saying that he is an example to young people to aspire to work for change and democracy.” Eyewitness accounts When the Ryanair pilot announced that the plane would be diverting to nearby Minsk on Sunday, Protasevich reacted immediately, standing up from his seat, reaching into the overhead locker, pulling a laptop computer from his hand luggage and passing it to a female companion along with his mobile phone, witnesses told Reuters. “When it was announced they were going to land in Minsk, Roman stood up, opened the luggage compartment, took luggage and was trying to split things,” said a Lithuanian passenger, who gave his name only as Mantas, Reuters reported. “I think he made a mistake. There were plenty of people so he could give the things to me or other passengers and not the girlfriend, who was also I think arrested.” Other passengers said Protasevich looked scared and said he feared would face the death penalty. Marius Rutkauskas was sitting behind Protasevich, and told Lithuania’s state-owned LRT TV that passengers were initially told the plane would be landing in Minsk due to a technical fault. “A man sat with his girlfriend and you could see that he started to panic. As I understood, this was the journalist. He panicked because we would be landing in Minsk. He said that the death penalty awaits him in Belarus,” Rutkauskas said. Similarly, passenger Monika Simkiene told AFP that Protasevich “just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty.” There are conflicting accounts on why the plane changed course last minute. Ryanair says that its crew was “notified by Belarus ATC [air traffic control] of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk” — even though the plane was closer to Vilnius than Minsk when it changed course. Meanwhile the Deputy Commander of Belarus’ Air Defense Forces, Major-General Andrey Gurtsevich, claimed that after the Ryanair crew were told of a “possible bomb on board,” it was the captain who “made a decision to land at the reserve airfield (Minsk-2).” Gurtsevich said a Belarus Air Force MiG29 jet was dispatched to monitor the flight and “assist” if necessary. A Belarusian official also claimed that Minsk airport received an email from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, saying that a bomb had been planted aboard the flight. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhom refuted the allegation on Monday as “fake news.” Soon after the flight landed in Minsk, Protasevich was arrested and detained along with Sofia Sapega, the Russian student he was traveling with. Around the world, the Belarusian government’s version of events has been met with widespread disbelief, despite an elaborate show of fire trucks when the plane landed, as well as extensive baggage checks. Nothing untoward was found, according to Ryanair. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the explanations provided by Belarusian authorities are “implausible,” and called for Protasevich and Sapeg’s release on Monday, adding, “we will discuss what actions we can take against Belarus with one united European voice.” Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, a professor in human rights law at the University of Liverpool, told CNN that “if the information about the threat onboard are fake, it means that there is a clear violation of international law and rules of civil aviation.” Student Sapega was preparing to defend her International Law and European Law master’s thesis in Vilinus, according to the European Humanities University (EHU). “The student was detained by the Administration of the Investigative Committee for the city of Minsk on groundless and made-up conditions,” the EHU said in a statement. On arrival, Protasevich’s luggage was checked and sniffer dogs were deployed, but turned up nothing, Reuters reported. “We saw that Roman was stopped due to some things in the luggage,” passenger Mantas told Reuters, adding that the other passengers also had their luggage checked and were taken by bus to the terminal where they spent several hours waiting to reboard the plane. “We saw from the window that Roman is standing alone, and one policeman with dog was trying to find something (in his luggage).” Another passenger, who also did not give his name, told Lithuanian media that Protasevich had identified himself to Belarusian security officials on arrival. “I saw how his passport was taken away. He took off his mask and said: ‘I’m so-and-so and I’m the reason why all this is going on.'” International fallout Lithuania ordered all flights to and from its airports to avoid Belarusian airspace from early Tuesday, an adviser to the transport minister told CNN, and the foreign ministry urged its citizens to leave Belarus, citing “risks to the security and a threat to the lives of civilians.” The flag carrier of Latvia, airBaltic, said it had “decided to avoid entering Belarus airspace until the situation becomes clearer or a decision is issued by the authorities.” Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) also said in a statement on Monday that it would reroute its twice weekly flights between Oslo and Kiev, the capitals of Norway and Ukraine, in line with instructions from the Swedish transport agency. German carrier Lufthansa said in a Monday statement that give the “current dynamic situation,” it is suspending its operations over Belarusian airspace “for the time being.” Dutch carrier KLM also said it would suspend flight operations over Belarus until further notice on Monday evening, including code share flights to Minsk operated by Belavia. In the United Kingdom, transport secretary Grant Shapp said he had instructed the country’s aviation authorities to “request airlines avoid Belarusian airspace in order to keep passengers safe.” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he would be calling for all flights between EU member states and Belarus to be suspended, Reuters reported. And German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for the immediate release of Protasevich and requested information about the activist’s welfare. ‘Utterly unacceptable’ The incident has been condemned by world leaders. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday that the bloc is discussing sanctions against individuals, economic entities, and the Belarusian aviation sector. “There will be a very strong answer because it is an outrageous behavior and Lukashenko and his regime have to understand that this will have severe consequences,” she said. Von der Leyen also called for the immediate release of Protasevich, saying that “we will put pressure on the regime as long as it finally respects the freedom of media and the freedom of press and the freedom of opinion.” She added that a $3.6 billion (3 billion Euro) investment aid package from the EU to Belarus will be “on hold and frozen until Belarus turns democratic.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the incident Sunday and demanded the release of Protasevich. “This shocking act perpetrated by the Lukashenka regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including U.S. citizens,” Blinken said in a statement. “Initial reports suggesting the involvement of the Belarusian security services and the use of Belarusian military aircraft to escort the plane are deeply concerning and require full investigation.” Speaing to reporters on Monday, the United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” over the incident and has called for a “full and transparent investigation,” urging all parties to cooperate. “The Secretary-General also remains greatly concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus in the aftermath of last August’s presidential elections,” he added. But Belarus has said western countries are acting “hastily” by making “belligerent” statements about the incident. Foreign ministry press secretary Anatoliy Glaz told Russian state media RIA Novosti that a “number of countries” and the EU were making “deliberately politicized, unsupported accusations,” and said those nations have “no apparent desire to understand it objectively.” Glaz defended Belarus’ actions on Sunday as “fully justified,” in order to ensure the safety and security of the passengers and crew. “There is no doubt that the actions of our competent authorities were also in full compliance with the established international rules,” he said Russia, a key ally of Belarus, said it would not be commenting on the diverted fight. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with journalists Monday that it was for international aviation authorities to determine whether Belarus was compliant with regulations. Source link Orbem News #Appears #Belarusian #detained #dissident #flight #Fury #Hijacking #mounts #Ryanair #video

[the-firebird69]

Ukraine's leader reveals details of talks with hostage-taker

Points out the path does not wantvto be under his knife again

Zues

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He does not if they as cork did one or more if the ball surgeries w head attached

[ladystylestores]

Man armed with grenade takes policeman hostage in Ukraine | Ukraine News

A man armed with a grenade has escaped arrest and took a senior Ukrainian policeman hostage in the central city of Poltava, according to Ukraine’s deputy interior minister.

“Negotiations are ongoing to force the attacker to surrender to the police without harming himself or others,” Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook on Thursday.

Police were trying to arrest a man suspected of hijacking a vehicle when he took out a grenade and threatened to kill one of the officers, Gerashchenko said.

After negotiations, the man exchanged the police officer for a police colonel and drove off with him in a car provided by the police.

It was the second hostage-taking in Ukraine in three days. On Tuesday, an armed man held13 people captive on a bus for hours before releasing them.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers near the site where a man armed with a grenade holds a policeman hostage in Poltava. [Handout via Reuters]

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