Ukraine, live coverage – Kremlin: “We are not asking for a regime change in Kiev”. IAEA: “The key structures of the Zaporizhzhia plant are intact”

Macron-Zelensky phone call on the Zaporizhzhia plant

The French president Emmanuel Macron and the Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Zelensky agreed in a phone call on the “absolute necessity of preserving the safety” of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The two leaders, announced the Eiseo, “recalled that the illegal occupation of the plant by Russia is at the root of the current situation” and agreed “on the importance of continuing efforts with the IAEA to reach an agreement which ensures the absence of military forces, regular or mercenary, as well as light and heavy weapons, in the protection zone”. “I had a phone call with Emmanuel Macron – Zelensky tweeted – I informed him of the situation on the Ukrainian battlefield and nuclear facilities. I stressed the need to demilitarize the Zaporizhzhia plant. We also discussed cooperation to ensure the stability of Ukrainian energy, in particular with the protection of the system from air attacks.

NATO declares Russia a terrorist state. And he calls for more weapons for Kiev

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly has declared the Russia a “terrorist state“he urged allies to increase military support to Kiev and to work towards the establishment of a special international tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The 269 delegates from the 30 member countries of the Alliance gathered in Madrid in the 68th annual sessionthus they responded to the requests made by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskywho spoke in the plenary via video link. The leader called for increasing sanctions against Russia and declaring it a terrorist state as well as sending more weapons and air defense systems to Kiev for protect the Ukrainian skies avoiding further attacks on critical infrastructure, which is leaving the civilian population without electricity, water and heating in their homes. Zelensky then urged allies to support Ukraine’s accession as a full member of both the European Union and NATO. But the path is long. “While we have a more or less clear picture for EU entry and we know what steps to take, the situation for NATO entry is not clear”, “we will be killed knocking on the doors of the Atlantic Alliance and we will cover them with our bodies“, the vice president of the Ukrainian delegation to NATO, Solomiia Bobrovska told LaPresse, stressing that “continuing to keep Ukraine as a buffer zone between the borders of NATO and Russia is not a good idea”. “Maybe after the war,” our entry will be possible, said Bobrovska.

At the plenary session the general secretary of NATO Jens Stoltenberg he asked the allies to be ready to support Kiev for a long time. “I know this support will come at a price, many countries face rising cost of living,” but “if we allow Putin to win we will have to pay an even higher price” and the consequences would be “disastrous”, he warned, then urging member states to increase defense spending. “The threshold of 2% of GDP must be a starting point, not a ceiling”, said the secretary, noting that at the next summit scheduled in Vilnius “there will be a request for a greater commitment” for military spending. The meeting of the parliamentary assembly was also the occasion for the allies to discuss the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO. At the moment of the 30 member states, only two, Hungary and Turkey, have not yet ratified the accession of the two countries. When asked by parliamentarians about the delay in Budapest and Ankara, Stoltenberg reiterated his request to complete the ratification, but underlined that the accession process was overall very rapid and that it is unthinkable for Moscow to attack Stockholm or Helsinki without provoking NATO intervention . During the plenary, the French senator, a representative of the Republicans, was then elected as the new president of the Parliamentary Assembly, Joelle Garriaud-Maylamwhose candidacy was the subject of a heated debate among the delegations. The senator, former vice-president of the assembly, was considered the most accredited to succeed the American Gerry Connolly, but her alleged relations with Moscow and with the ideologist Aleksandr Dugin have raised doubts among some democratic members of the Assembly. In her first speech as president, Garriaud-Maylam claimed to have stood by the Ukrainians since the demonstrations in Maidan Square and made a vicious attack on the Russian leadership by calling them “terrorist”. Her election came after Mimi Khodeli, president of the Albanian delegation, withdrew her candidacy at the last minute.

IAEA: “The key structures of the Zaporizhzhia plant are intact”

“Despite the severity of the bombing, key equipment remained intact and there are no immediate nuclear safety concerns.” This was reported by the director general of the IAEA Raffaele Grossi after inspection by his team at Central Zaporizhiaas reported on the agency’s website. “The status of the six reactors is stable and the integrity of spent fuel, fresh fuel and low-, medium- and high-level radioactive waste in their respective storage facilities has been confirmed,” the team said. But the widespread damage across the site is “a cause for great concern”.

Russian Atomic Agency: “Zaporizhzhia at risk of nuclear accident”

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “at risk of a nuclear accident”. This was stated by the managing director of the Russian state atomic energy company Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, quoted by Interfax. “The plant is exposed to the risk of a nuclear accident. We have been in talks with the IAEA all night,” Likhachev said on the sidelines of the Atomexpo 2022 event in Sochi. “We are informing the international community that the plant is at risk of a nuclear disaster and Kiev clearly believes that a small nuclear accident would be acceptable,” accused the CEO of Rosatom, quoted by the Tass agency. “Radiation will not ask Kiev what kind of accident it wants. It will be a precedent that will change the course of history forever, so everything must be done so that no one can even think of harming the safety of nuclear power plants,” Likhachev stressed. From September until recently, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has seen “a rather quiet period,” Likhachev said. “However, there were at least 30 attacks over the weekend. The spent nuclear fuel storage facility, special building and transportation routes were affected and backup diesel generators were damaged,” Rosatom’s CEO said.

Zelensky: “Ukraine’s separation from the EU is unjust”

The “separation” of Ukraine “from Europe” is “an injustice” and a “tremendous” fact: so Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, in a video link with the 68th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, underway in Madrid. “Our people share exactly your same values”, he added in a speech translated in real time, “we know that the majority of your citizens support our entry into the European Union and NATO”, an entry that the Ukrainian president hopes will happen “as soon as possible”. Zelensky also recalled that today his country is celebrating the “Day of Dignity and Freedom” and stressed that Ukraine “will not allow” “not even a centimeter” of its territory to be taken away from it.

Kiev without electricity

Skip the plan on the schedule of electricity outages in the capital and in the Kiev region due to high power consumption especially due to the cold: today “emergency electricity shutdowns were applied in the capital. The programs are temporarily suspended until the situation stabilizes,” said Ukrainian electric operator Ukrenergo. The administration explained that “currently, electricity consumption has increased significantly in the Kiev region. In order to avoid mass accidents, there are emergency interruptions”, reports Espreso tv.

Poland opposes Ukraine’s participation in missile investigation

Poland’s prosecutor’s office has opposed Ukraine’s participation in the investigation into the missile that fell in the Polish village of Przewodów, killing two people. This was reported by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda. “There is no such legal possibility,” say sources close to the case, “and it would be against the procedure. Not to mention the interests of the investigation, in which all possible versions are being examined, including the fact that the anti-aircraft missile could have been launched from Ukraine”.

NATO: “Necessary to ratify the accession of Sweden and Finland”

“The time has come to conclude the ratification process” of Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership. This was underlined by the general secretary of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at the NATO parliamentary assembly in Madrid, broadcast in streaming. Stockholm and Helsinki, he adds, must “commit to a long-term partnership with NATO and Turkey on the fight against terrorism. No other NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks” than Turkey, he concludes.

Kiev: “The Russian army is bombing Kherson”

“The Russian army is shelling Kherson, liberated 10 days ago, civilian infrastructure has been hit. There are wounded among the population”: This was announced by the deputy chairman of the regional council Yuriy Sobolevsky, as reported by UNIAN.
The Suspilne Kherson publication reported a series of explosions in the city starting at 11 this morning.