WAR IN UKRAINE: Aug 9, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 167
American senators Lindsey Graham (Republican Party) and Richard Blumenthal (Democratic Party) called on President Joe Biden’s administration to recognize Russia as a sponsor of terrorism in response to its invasion of Ukraine, CNN reported. Senators have stressed that they would push Congress to pass the bill issuing the designation "whether or not” it had Joe Biden’s support.
The boss of Ukrainian state nuclear power company Enerhoatom says 500 Russian soldiers are at the Zaporizhzhia site, and Russia has positioned rocket launchers there. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the plant, in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, over the weekend. Inspectors must be given access to Europe's largest nuclear power plant following attacks at the site, says UN Secretary General António Guterres. “Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing,” Guterres says. The fighting has prompted the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to warn of "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster" - BBC
Prof Claire Corkhill - a nuclear material degradation expert from the University of Sheffield: Another major risk at the Zaporizhzhia power plant is the possibility of a nuclear waste storage site getting hit by a missile, which "could lead to a release of radioactivity", Corkhill says. She says the consequences of this wouldn't be as wide-reaching and severe as a loss of coolant accident, but it could still be extremely dangerous - BBC
In an interview with The Washington Post, President Zelensky said that “the most important sanctions are to close the borders — because the Russians are taking away someone else’s land.” He said Russians should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy.”
Amnesty International apologizes for 'distress and anger' its report about Ukraine caused. In an email to Reuters, the human rights organization said it regrets "the pain caused" by its report accusing Ukraine of endangering citizens, but "fully stands" by its findings. Amnesty International triggered a scandal by publishing a report on Aug. 4 claiming that Ukrainian troops are endangering civilians by deploying weapons in residential areas. The Times published an editorialsaying that Amnesty International serves as a mouthpiece of Putin's propaganda: “The human rights charity shamefully castigates the victims of Russian aggression," the Times said. Amnesty International has learned nothing after it helped the Kremlin in 2021 by stripping jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny of his status as a prisoner of conscience, the Times added Kyiv Independent
Pope Francis compared the "grain agreement" with a step towards ending the war in Ukraine. “This step shows that it is possible to have a dialogue and achieve concrete results that are beneficial to all. Therefore, this event is also a symbol of hope, and I sincerely hope that by following this path it will be possible to end hostilities and achieve a just and lasting peace", His Holiness said - The Guardian
CBS News has removed a Tweet promoting its recent documentary, "Arming Ukraine," which quoted the founder of the nonprofit Blue-Yellow, Jonas Ohman's assessment in late April that only around 30% of aid was reaching the front lines in Ukraine. The allegation has angered many people inside and outside Ukraine aiding money and aid for the war effort.
Required listening…
Click here to listen to my Twitters Spaces Reporters Notebook episode from today on War in Ukraine: Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and NATO - What’s Next? With journalists Ayla Jean Yackley, Teri Schultz and Sevgil Musaieva. We cover the recent grain agreement finalized in Istanbul, the Putin-Erdogan summit, western sanctions and much more.