From Strategic Stability

…according to available information, as part of a trip to Ukraine from August 17 to 19, 2022, UN Secretary-General Guterres plans to visit the city of Odessa. By this date, the Armed Forces of Ukraine intend to stage a provocation of a man-made disaster at the Zaporozhye NPP, which consists in a radiation leak, the destruction of the integrity of the nuclear waste storage facility and the decommissioning of the nuclear power plant reactor into a state of emergency.

Report # 127. Russian MoD statement on the Kiev’s plans to destroy ZNPP

August 18, 2022

1. On August 18, 2022 Russian MoD spokesman made the following statement concerning Kiev’s plans to destroy Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP):

“On August 19, 2022 the Kiev regime is preparing another provocation at Zaporozhye NPP during the visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Ukraine, as a result of which the Russian Federation will be blamed for creating a man-made disaster at the power plant.
In order to prepare for the provocation, the command of Dnepro operational-tactical group is deploying radiation observation posts near Zaporozhye by August 19. Also, the command is organizing training exercises for units of 108th Territorial Defence Brigade, 44th Artillery Brigade and military units deployed at Zaporozhye on measures to be taken in conditions of radioactive contamination of the area.
Besides, units of 704th RCBD [Radiological, Chemical and Bacteriological Defense] Regiment of AFU are to complete concentration in Zaporozhye area by August 19,2022 and be ready for fixing the accident at Zaporizhzhia NPP as well as for carrying out a set of measures for demonstration of supposedly liquidation of its consequences.
Units of 44th Artillery Brigade of AFU are planning to launch artillery strikes on the territory of ZNPP from firing positions located in Nikopol on August 19.
The Russian Armed Forces will be blamed for their consequences.
Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly spread rumours that Russian troops have occupied the nuclear power plant and are shelling AFU with long-range artillery systems while shielding themselves behind NPP.
We would like to point out that the Russian troops have no heavy weapons either on the territory of the plant or in the surrounding areas. Only security units are stationed there.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of Zaporozhye NPP”.

2. Illustrative material to the statement

Slide 1: Briefing according to the results of the analysis of a possible provocation at Zaporozhye NPP (title only)
Slide 2:
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is conducting an analysis of the development of the situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
Starting from July 18, 2022, the station has been subjected to systematic shelling by the armed forces of Ukraine from multiple launch rocket systems, cannon artillery and using unmanned aerial vehicles.
As of August 18, 2022, that is one month later, Kiev implemented 12 attacks, during which more than 50 artillery shells and 5 kamikaze drones with high explosive were recorded on the territory of the ZNPP.
The Russian Defense Ministry conducted an investigation and established that the strikes were delivered from the direction of the settlements of the cities of Marganets and Nikopol.
As a result of the shelling, auxiliary support systems for the station were damaged, as well as life support facilities located in the city of Energodar.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian side, together with their handlers from the USA, is trying to play the card, causing, in their opinion, a minor accident at the nuclear power plant and, thereby, disrupting the normal and safe operation of the NPP, blaming in this Russia.
Slide 3:
The Ukrainian side has repeatedly stated that the strikes on the station are carried out by the Russian Armed Forces, and Russian heavy weapons are located on the territory of the NPP, from which shelling is carried out at the targets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
We are ready to present real very high resolution images to the IAEA. A sample is placed on a slide, which shows that weapons, especially heavy ones, are not placed at the territory of this station. This was also stated by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to the UN Secretary General Guterres during recent telephone call between them.
We know that in the presence of a large number of military and commercial foreign satellites, the same information can be presented to the world community and the American side.
At the same time, the USA is hushing up objective data about the shelling and the situation at the nuclear power plant, thereby encouraging the impunity of the Kyiv regime and contributing to the possible development of a nuclear catastrophe in Europe.
Slide 4:
I would like to note that it is no coincidence that the media widely cites the conclusions made by specialists from the U.S. Agency for Arms Control and Disarmament (Washington City, DC) and a number of other similar institutions of Western countries, and not the IAEA, which has the right to draw such conclusions, that a large-scale catastrophe at the Zaporozhye NPP is unlikely.
According to them, the thickness of the concrete shelters of its nuclear reactors is 10 meters, in addition, the station was designed and built taking into account the need to overcome the consequences of such incidents as the fall of a civilian aircraft.
At the same time, it is not excluded that a direct hit of large-caliber artillery shells in a dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility will lead to radioactive contamination of the area within a radius of up to 20 km, and an emergency at a nuclear reactor maximum – up to 30 km. At the same time, it is emphasized that the risks of the spread of radiation in the territory of European countries are assessed as minimal.
Thus, according to American experts, the consequences of the nuclear incident at the Zaporozhye NPP will be limited and will not affect the territory of European countries.
That is a very wrong assessment.
Slide 5:
At the same time, I would like to remind the UN Secretariat and the entire world community that the principal cause of the accidents at the Chernobyl NPP and the Fukushima NPP, despite the fact that in the first case there were experiments with a nuclear reactor, and in the second case, an earthquake and a tsunami, – this is a failure of support systems, power supply disruption, partial and complete blackout of cooling systems, which led to to overheating of nuclear fuel and destruction of the reactor.

From RIA.ru

Special operation, August 7: Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

…On Sunday night, the Ukrainian military fired from the Uragan MLRS at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Energodar . Fragments and a rocket engine fell no more than 400 meters from the operating power unit of the station. When approaching the power units, the rocket managed to open up and release fragmentation submunitions. The area of ​​the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel and the post of automated control of the radiation situation turned out to be in the affected area. Striking elements damaged the administrative buildings and the adjacent territory of the storage facility.

Kiev ‘s strikes on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, in the event of damage to the power unit, threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents of Ukraine, foreign Europe , and  Asia , RIA Novosti was told in the administration of Energodar.The interlocutor of the agency stressed that the wind rose in this region is directed mainly to the north-west, and in the event of a man-made disaster, the cities of Nikopol, Zaporozhye , Krivoy Rog , as well as most of the western regions of Ukraine, will be in the radius of radiation damage first of all.The head of the 

IAEA ,  Rafael Grossi , earlier expressed concern over the shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. According to him, military actions that put the safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in jeopardy are “completely unacceptable and must be prevented at any cost.” Grossi stressed that he was ready to lead the mission of IAEA experts on safety, protection and safeguards at nuclear power plants. Since the beginning of the special operation, Ukrainian troops have made attempts to attack the territory of the nuclear power plant several times. As a result of several artillery attacks, a fire broke out on the spot, two power lines were cut off, which are necessary for the operation of power units. At the nuclear power plant, part of the equipment of power unit No. 3 was de-energized, and the generated power of power unit No. 4 was reduced.The leadership of the IAEA is aware of the risks associated with the shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant by Ukrainian troops, but does not take real measures to stop them, said the head of the administration of the Zaporizhzhya region  Yevhen Balitsky .

https://ria.ru/20220807/spetsoperatsiya-1807905136.html

From Strategic Stability

Report # 118. Amnesty International: Kiev violates too many laws

August 7, 2022

1. What are they?

On August 4, the international human rights organization Amnesty International published a report on Ukraine’s violation of the laws of warfare and international humanitarian law, in which it said that the Ukrainian military is deploying military equipment and weapons in schools, hospitals and residential areas, turning them into military strongholds. Secretary General of the organization Agnes Callamard emphasized: “We have documented that the Armed Forces of Ukraine put civilians in a risky position and violated the laws of war during actions in crowded places.”

The report also noted the absence of any actions by Kiev to organize the evacuation of civilians from the areas where combat operations are underway. The conclusions set out in the document are based on data obtained during visits by human rights defenders to settlements in the south-east of Ukraine, namely Kharkiv Region and Odessa.

Amnesty International has a lot of weight in the international arena and has proven itself by publishing impartial and reliable reports, the content of which is taken into account even by the governments of European states. For drawing attention to human rights violations and activities aimed at no compliance with international standards, the organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as the UN Prize in the field of human rights.

On July 29, Amnesty International leaders sent a letter to the Government of Ukraine listing numerous Ukrainian cities and villages where described violations were documented and provided GPS coordinates of 24 places, including schools and hospitals, where Ukrainian soldiers were stationed. Amnesty International waited for the answer by August 3^rd, 2022. But there was no response from Kiev at all. On the contrary, on the day of the publication of the report, almost all Ukrainian officials hastened to make unfounded denials. The voiced statements, filled only with slogans about the inadmissibility of criticizing the “victim” and the need to concentrate efforts on the accusations of the “aggressor”, completely lacked any facts.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kuleba on his Facebook page saw in “such behavior” a kind of “false equivalence”. Advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine Podolyak on Twitter branded Amnesty International disgrace for “participating in the Russian disinformation and propaganda campaign.” The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov in an interview with a journalist of the American media organization “Politico” accused the drafters of the report, in his opinion, aimed at undermining his personal authority in the “loss of adequacy”. President of Ukraine Zelensky also found no weighty arguments and regarded the report as an attempt to “shift responsibility from the aggressor to the victim.”

The head of Amnesty International in Ukraine Oksana Pokalchuk, who was forced to leave her post on August 5, said on social networks that the data used was obtained not from the branch she heads, but from international researchers. A Facebook post written to her confirmed that the arguments of the Ukrainian office, “which was not involved in the preparation or writing of the publication text,” were not based on an analysis of the reliability of the data used, but were reduced only to “the inadmissibility of such material.”

In turn, American human rights activist Ajamu Baraka said that Amnesty International had exposed “the lies of President of Ukraine V. Zelensky, who suppressed the obvious facts of war crimes of Ukrainian troops.” In addition, readers of the British edition of the Daily Mail were shocked by the data provided in the report. In the comments they left, they noted that the Ukrainian authorities purposefully lead their people to slaughter and accused V. Zelensky of destroying the country under the guise of allegedly helping citizens of Ukraine. Visitors to the website of the French newspaper Le Figaro also accused the head of Ukraine of a lack of desire to resolve the crisis and noted the validity of the statements of the authors of the report.

Posted by Global Research

By Eva Bartlett

Ukraine fired missiles containing petal mines in Donetsk. They littered the streets, parks, everywhere — they’re small-sized, neutral in color, they’re easy to miss.

Careful, look down as you walk through the streets of Donetsk

Video at https://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-deploying-petal-mines-against-donetsk-civilians/5788957

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian independent journalist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years).

From Strategic Stability

Report # 115. Humanitarian policy of Russia and Ukraine: striking difference

August 3, 2022

On August 3^rd, 2022 Colonel General Alexander Fomin, Deputy Defence Minister, Russian MoD, addressed foreign military attachés accredited in Moscow. His statement was dealt with the humanitarian aspects of the Special Military Operation or SMO.

In particular, he briefed the foreign military diplomats on the efforts being made by the Russian Federation to observe the norms of international humanitarian law with regard to prisoners of war.

“Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Federation has taken comprehensive measures to comply with international humanitarian law.

The relevant instructions to Russian servicemen were given by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Alexander Fomin stated that the MoD work is based on the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the Manual on International Humanitarian Law for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, approved by order of the Russian Minister of Defence. The manual is a supplement to the statutory instruments and includes the main provisions of international humanitarian law, as well as recommendations for its application in the preparation for and during combat operations.

Painstaking efforts are being made to treat the detained Ukrainians in accordance with international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Close contacts have been established with the relevant United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide humanitarian assistance to the population living in the territories liberated from the Ukrainian Nazis and also to work with prisoners of war.

On a regular weekly basis, meetings are held with representatives of international organizations, primarily the UNO and the ICRC, to discuss the most pressing humanitarian issues on the Ukrainian direction. More than 40 such meetings have been held since February 2022.

In accordance with Article 122 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Russian Ministry of Defence formed a Reference Bureau for Prisoners of War in February this year. The Bureau transmits information on Ukrainian prisoners of war held by the Russian side to the ICRC.

Pursuant to Article 126 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, ICRC visits to places of detention are organised.

All detainees are treated in strict compliance with international humanitarian law: they are provided with decent living conditions, food standards in line with those of the Russian Armed Forces, and all necessary medical care, including complex high-tech operations using modern equipment.

In addition, in accordance with Article 71 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, all detainees are allowed to contact their relatives in Ukraine. Detainees make international phone calls and write letters to their home countries.

More than 1,500 such letters have been forwarded to Ukraine thanks to the ICRC’s assistance.

Together with the UN and the ICRC, operations were successfully conducted in April-May 2022 to evacuate civilians from Azovstal plant and to withdraw AFU troops and “Azov” regiment fighters from this facility.

More than 3,000 people left Azovstal, including more than 2,400 servicemen of the Ukrainian armed forces and fighters from nationalist formations.

The operations were purely humanitarian in nature. Staff of international organisations confirmed the strict observance of international humanitarian law in their conduct.