International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said the inspections would look for evidence of a so-called dirty bomb, a radioactive explosive device. Kyiv invited inspectors to the country in response to Russia’s baseless claims. After a lightning advance by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials in Russia claimed that Ukraine was building a dirty bomb, which can scatter radioactive material over a large area. Western countries have called Moscow’s claims “clearly false”, while Ukrainian officials say they are an attempt by Russia to justify the escalation of hostilities. Russia has not provided any evidence for such claims. Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, wrote in a letter to the Security Council last week that Ukraine’s nuclear research facility “had received direct orders from [President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s regime to develop such a dirty bomb.” The IAEA has previously said the sites being investigated are under “safeguards” and “regularly visited” by its inspectors, who look for covert nuclear activities and materials that could be used in a dirty bomb. “The IAEA inspected one of the two sites a month ago and no undeclared nuclear activities or materials were found there,” the agency said in a statement on Monday.
2. Russia slaps Wikipedia with heavy fine for Ukraine articles
A Russian court on Tuesday fined Wikipedia two million rubles for two articles about the war in Ukraine, ruling them untrue.
The Wikimedia Foundation, parent company of the online encyclopedia, will have to pay a fine equivalent to 30,000 euros for failing to remove articles that the court ruled contained “false information.”
The head of Wikimedia’s RU union, which supports the Wikimedia Foundation in Russia, confirmed that the fine was for “two articles related to the events in Ukraine.”
“No one will delete” the two disputed pages and the court’s decision “will be challenged in court,” his spokesman told reporters.
The court’s verdict comes amid a wider crackdown by Russian authorities against organizations and individuals it accuses of publishing “false information” about the war in Ukraine.
Wikipedia has been ordered to pay three fines to Russia since the conflict began.
In 2019, Putin called for the creation of a Russian alternative to the online encyclopedia.
Foreign social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been blocked in Russia, and US internet giant Google was fined 360 million euros in July for failing to remove content critical of the attack on Ukraine posted on YouTube.
The internet is one of the last spaces for free expression in Russia, but authorities have stepped up the pressure in recent years, even more so since the country invaded Ukraine.
3. The UK created the Nord Stream sabotage, the Kremlin claims
The Kremlin accused the UK on Tuesday of masterminding the mysterious explosions that destroyed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in September.
“Our intelligence services have evidence suggesting that the attack was directed and coordinated by British military experts,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“There is evidence that Britain is involved in a sabotage, a terrorist attack against [this] vital energy infrastructure, not Russian, but international,” Peskov continued.
He did not specify what exactly those items were.
Traveling under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream 1 and 2 are pipelines that carry Russian gas to Europe, particularly energy-hungry Germany.
In September, major leaks suddenly broke out in the pipelines in a suspected act of sabotage. Western officials have stopped short of blaming Moscow, although suspicions are high.
“Such actions cannot be allowed [unanswered]. We will consider the measures to be taken,” Peskov said, adding that there had been an “unacceptable silence from European capitals”.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Russia’s accusations were aimed at “diverting” attention, which he described as one of their “usual methods”.
Russia’s defense ministry made a similar claim last weekend, accusing “British experts” of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, again without providing evidence. The UK Ministry of Defense dismissed the Russian claims as an attempt to “downplay their disastrous handling” of the invasion of Ukraine.
On September 26, four major leaks were detected in Nord Stream 1 and 2 just off the Danish island of Bornholm, two in Sweden’s economic zone and two in Denmark.
Underwater inspections fueled suspicions of sabotage as leaks followed explosions.
4. Ships sail from Ukraine despite Russia’s suspension of grain deal
Ships loaded with grain left Ukraine on Tuesday, despite Russia’s withdrawal from a UN-brokered deal that ensures the safe passage of critical food supplies to countries on the brink of famine. Three ships carrying 84,490 tons of corn, wheat and sunflowers left southern Ukraine through a humanitarian sea corridor established by an agreement in July. The landmark deal, brokered by Turkey and the UN, lifted a Russian blockade on grain and other food exports from the Black Sea to Africa and the Middle East. Russia suspended the grain deal over the weekend after an alleged Ukrainian drone strike against its fleet in the Black Sea. On Monday, Russia’s defense ministry said the ships could not depart from ports in southern Ukraine, saying their movement was “unacceptable”. However, a total of 14 ships set sail on Monday, including one for the UN World Food Program in Ethiopia, which, along with neighboring Somalia and Kenya, is experiencing its worst drought in decades. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is determined to keep the deal alive. “Even if Russia behaves hesitantly because it has not received the same benefits, we will resolutely continue our efforts to serve humanity,” he said Monday. Analysts say Russia is still bound by the terms of the grain deal even if it leaves. This includes a commitment not to target civilian vessels, which would also be a violation of international law. “Although he is not currently a party to this agreement, he is still a signatory to it,” said Munro Anderson, chief information officer at risk consultancy Dryad Global. “Russia’s interests are not going to be served in any way, shape or form by attacking ships.” Russia’s suspension of the deal drew condemnation from Ukraine, the US and their allies. The move is likely to have lasting consequences, according to Joseph Glauber, a senior fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington. Prices for insuring ships sailing from Ukraine “will increase and probably be prohibitive,” he said.
5. Russia expands “evacuation” zone in Ukraine’s Kherson region
Pro-Russian officials in Ukraine’s Kherson region said on Monday they would begin the “evacuation” of civilians from a wider area, including the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. In a Telegram post, Vladimir Saldo, head of the Russian-backed government, said he was expanding an “evacuation zone” in the southern Ukrainian region, which is partially held by Russia. For the first time, he asked citizens on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River to leave their homes. This new area covers an additional seven settlements and 15 kilometers around the waterway, which divides the Kherson region and is currently a flashpoint for Ukrainian and Russian forces. Saldo repeated claims — rejected by Kyiv — that Ukraine is preparing to attack the Kakhovka dam and flood the region. “Because of the possibility [Ukraine using] Prohibited methods of war … as well as information that Kyiv is preparing a massive missile attack on the Kakhovka hydroelectric station, there is an immediate danger that the Kherson region will be flooded,” he argued. This could lead to “massive destruction of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian disaster,” Saldo added. Kyiv has denied claims it plans to attack the Kakhovka Dam, a 3.2km dam that could release a reservoir the size of the US’s Great Salt Lake, the world’s eighth largest lake, on villages and towns. Ukraine itself claims that Russia is preparing to attack the dam. Russia has “evacuated” tens of thousands of civilians from southeastern Ukraine in recent weeks, following a swift Ukrainian offensive. Many claim these “evacuations” are forced, with citizens forced to move or face no other route to safety. Officials installed by Russia are offering citizens one-off payments of 100,000 rubles (1,649 euros) to leave, while Moscow is providing housing in other parts of Russia, Saldo said.
