UNGA Crisis Update 2- “Five minutes before midnight, again”

On the 20th of November, Russia sent an ultimatum asking Ukraine to hand over those in the Azovstal metallurgical plant. At the same time, Russia launched a missile attack on the port of Odessa, one day after an agreement to lift the blockade of Ukrainian ports and resume grain exports. Kyiv was also bombarded immediately after the end of the talks.

President Zelenski declared that:

"an explosion at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant could mean the end of Europe"

- a fear very likely to materialize, as the Russians soon launched bomb attacks in and around the city of Zaporizhzhia, where the nuclear power plant is located.

Early in December (2022), specifically from the 6th to the 7th, a series of explosions occurred within breathing distance from the reactor facilities in Zaporizhzhia: the uncontrolled automatic mines / boobytraps that exploded constitute a priori prohibited weapons, according to the Geneva Conventions and the UN. As it remains unclear when they were installed and how they were activated, the UN, specifically the International Atomic Energy Agency decides to send a panel of experts to the field, which will decide whether or not to refer them (the Russian side) to the ICJ.

The explosion immediately triggered security systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, followed by numerous power cuts. The Ukrainian president stated that:

“the world was spared from a nuclear disaster after the plant was decommissioned. Yet Russian aggression is a constant threat and a nuclear doomsday could be around the corner with such criminal negligence -not to say deliberate actions- on their behalf”.

#UNGA