Russo-Ukrainian War Thread - Page 71

On March 29 2022 15:36 Vindicare605 wrote:


I believe the deal would be to go back to established borders prior to the current invasion leaving Crimea in Russian hands, which is something Ukraine was willing to do because they're basically sieging it anyway by cutting off its water supply.

I still don't buy Russia wanting to just take Donbas and call it a day. It's still going to look like a massive defeat no matter how you slice it and if Putin thinks this is enough to declare victory for himself I think he's going to be in for a rude awakening.

On March 29 2022 14:05 KwarK wrote:
Ukrainian government indicated that it was simultaneously unwilling to discuss territorial concessions and that it was willing to discuss a commitment to not retaking Crimea by force which seems contradictory.

On March 29 2022 17:50 calh wrote:


Isn't that the SOP for the majority of disputed territory around the world? Like "we are never going to renounce our claim to this place, but we have no plan to attack it either". Also not that the Ukraine in this particular instance has any kind of non-military pressure they can apply beyond appealing to the West, but in principle they could do anything short of attacking to force Russia out of Crimea while keeping to their words.

On March 29 2022 23:02 Harris1st wrote:


There might be large gas and maybe oil reserves in those territories. How would leasing those go?

That's also why I really don't understand our (German) politics right now. Why don't they just buy gas/ oil from Ukraine instead of Russia? Obviously there are no pipelines in place (yet) but the general idea should be there, right?

On March 29 2022 23:23 Vindicare605 wrote:
Headlines all over the internet are saying the Russians are withdrawing away from the cities amid the peace talks. Is the war's end in sight? Let's just hope so. Enough blood has been spilled already I would think.

LONDON (Reuters) -Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster drove their armoured vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the "Red Forest", kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said.

The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. The second Chernobyl employee said that was "suicidal" for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.

Ukraine's state nuclear inspectorate said on Feb. 25 there had been an increase in radiation levels at Chernobyl as a result of heavy military vehicles disturbing the soil. But until now, details of exactly what happened had not emerged.

The two Ukrainian workers who spoke to Reuters were on duty when Russian tanks entered Chernobyl on Feb. 24 and took control of the site, where staff are still responsible for the safe storage of spent nuclear fuel and supervising the concrete-encased remains of the reactor that blew up in 1986.

Both men said they had witnessed Russian tanks and other armoured vehicles moving through the Red Forest, which is the most radioactively contaminated part of the zone around Chernobyl, around 100 km (65 miles) north of Kyiv.

The regular soldiers one of the workers spoke to when they worked alongside them in the facility had not heard about the explosion, he said.

Asked to comment on the accounts from Chernobyl staff, Russia's defence ministry did not respond.

The Russian military said after capturing the plant that radiation was within normal levels and their actions prevented possible "nuclear provocations" by Ukrainian nationalists. Russia has previously denied that its forces have put nuclear facilities inside Ukraine at risk.

OFF LIMITS

The site got its name when dozens of square kilometres of pine trees turned red after absorbing radiation from the 1986 explosion, one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.

A vast area around Chernobyl is off limits to anyone who does not work there or have special permission, but the Red Forest is considered so highly contaminated that even the nuclear plant workers are not allowed to go there.

The Russian military convoy went through the zone, the two employees said. One of them said it used an abandoned road.

"A big convoy of military vehicles drove along a road right behind our facility and this road goes past the Red Forest," said one of the sources.

"The convoy kicked up a big column of dust. Many radiation safety sensors showed exceeded levels," he said.

Valery Seida, acting general director of the Chernobyl plant, was not there at the time and did not witness the Russian convoy going into the Red Forest, but he said he was told by witnesses that Russian military vehicles drove everywhere around the exclusion zone and could have passed the Red Forest.

"Nobody goes there ... for God's sake. There is no one there," Seida told Reuters.

He said workers at the plant told the Russian service personnel they should be cautious about radiation, but he knew of no evidence that they paid attention.

"They drove wherever they needed to," Seida said.

After the Russian troops arrived, the two plant employees worked for almost a month along with colleagues until they were allowed to go home last week when Russian commanders allowed replacements for some of the staff to be sent in.

Reuters could not independently verify their accounts.

They were interviewed by phone on Friday on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety. The next day Russian forces seized the town Slavutych near Chernobyl, where most plant workers live.

Seida and the mayor of Slavutych said on Monday that Russian forces had now left the town.

On March 29 2022 23:23 Vindicare605 wrote:
Headlines all over the internet are saying the Russians are withdrawing away from the cities amid the peace talks. Is the war's end in sight? Let's just hope so. Enough blood has been spilled already I would think.

On March 30 2022 00:24 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
And the dust? On Uniforms, vehicles etc?