World War III Will be Nuclear! By James Reed
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has said that a third world war would be “nuclear and destructive,” with Russia having moved to nuclear alert. The Biden administration is not worried about a nuclear war occurring, and maybe they are right, it could be yet another case of Putin playing a poker bluff. However, Russian attacks upon nuclear power plants could be an even greater worry, and Russian tanks, in their wisdom, have opened fire on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest of its kind in Europe. It is now on fire. I suppose the idea is to cause a nuclear meltdown, like Chernobyl, only bigger and better, and thus kill of everyone, ensuring that the Ukraine, being a radioactive wasteland, will not be a part of NATO or anything else. Have they heard that radioactive fallout might just coat those pretty towers in Moscow, or fill the milk of the cows of Moscow?
“Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned Wednesday that a third world war would be “nuclear and destructive” amid his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The third world war will be nuclear and destructive … President Biden is an experienced man and has previously stated that the only alternative to war are sanctions,” Lavrov said in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel, without elaborating, according to Gazeta, other Russian media, and Reuters.
Lavrov also alleged that Russia would be in “real danger” if Ukraine ever acquired nuclear weapons. There is no evidence that Ukraine was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons from the West, and Ukraine gave up its nukes in the early 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Earlier this week, the specter of nuclear war was raised when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s strategic deterrence forces, which operates some of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, to be on a heightened state of alert. Some analysts remarked that the order was meant to intimidate the United States and NATO so as they don’t get involved in the Ukraine conflict.
Russia, like the United States, possesses thousands of nuclear weapons, but both countries over the years have stressed that nuclear war would lead to the annihilation of both sides, or the military doctrine known as mutually assured destruction.
Earlier this week, Biden was asked whether Americans should be worried about nuclear war. Biden responded, “No.”
“We are assessing President Putin’s directive. And at this time, we see no reason to change our own alert levels,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday, adding that the United States will not attempt to escalate the rhetoric after Putin’s comments and order. “We think provocative rhetoric like this regarding nuclear weapons is dangerous, adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided, and we will not indulge in it,” she added.
On Thursday afternoon local time, Russia claimed its forces captured the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, reported Reuters. However, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said that “the city has not fallen, our side continues to defend” amid ongoing fighting, highlighting the opposing claims of military victories on both sides of the conflict.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service told The Associated Press on Wednesday that at least 2,000 civilians have been killed so far, although the number cannot be independently verified.
And Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, with a population of about 1.5 million, came under heavy fire again Wednesday. At the same time, satellite photos from Maxar show a huge convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles spanning miles outside Kyiv.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said Russia had told the agency that its military had taken control around Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, but operations there were continuing normally.”
“A fire has been seen at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine after tanks opened fire with heavy weapons at the facility, footage in the early hours of Friday morning showed.
A live feed from the Zaporizhzhia station showed flames at the site in the east of country, having earlier showed tanks firing at buildings - sparking fears of a radiation disaster in the nation currently being invaded by Russian forces.
Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of the nearby town of Energodar, confirmed the blaze in an online post. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest of its kind in Europe.
'As a result of continuous enemy shelling of buildings and units of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is on fire,' Orlov said on his Telegram channel, citing what he called a threat to world security.
Earlier, Ukrainian authorities reported Russian troops were stepping up efforts to seize the plant and had entered the town with tanks.
The shocking footage came after Ukrainian civilians defied Russian troops for a second day running in a bid to protect the nuclear plant. They were shown setting up make-shift road blocks in an attempt to block the road to the facility.
Both the Ukrainian state atomic energy company and Orlov said troops were nearing Zaporizhzhia. Officials said loud shots were heard in the city late Thursday.
'Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikov have come into the city. They are breaking down door and trying to get into the apartments of local residents,' the statement from Energoatom said.
Huge plumes of black smoke and fire were seen coming from a makeshift barricade on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site, as an air raid siren wailed in the background, earlier in the day.
Footage, taken earlier today, showed armed men holding guns and wearing bulletproof vests as rounds of ammunition appeared to be fired by Russian troops.
Two brave civilians can be seen throwing molotov cocktails in the direction of Russian forces, in a video posted to Facebook by the mayor of Enerhodar, Dmitri Orlov.
Missiles lighting up the sky have also been fired this evening as Russian troops advance through Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia is the largest of Ukraine's nuclear sites, with six out of the country's 15 reactors. Russia has already seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Research by specialists for Greenpeace International found that, in a worst-case scenario where explosions destroy the reactor containment and cooling systems at Zaporizhzhia, it could create a disaster far worse even than Fukushima in Japan in 2011.”
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