Russia Forces Enter Ukraine’s Second City; Concerns About Nuclear Sites

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KYIV/KHARKIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine says Russian troops have entered the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, where a gas pipeline was earlier attacked, and there was concern about nuclear radiation.

The attack came hours after Ukraine’s nuclear agency said missiles had hit a radioactive waste disposal site near Kyiv.

Earlier, there was also an increase in radiation after Russian troops on Thursday captured the Chernobyl nuclear power, which in 1986 caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster, authorities said.

Experts at Ukraine’s state nuclear agency said the change was due to the movement of heavy military equipment in the area lifting radioactive dust into the air. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the radiation at the site did not pose any danger to the public.

The still-radioactive site of the 1986 nuclear disaster lies some 100 km (62 miles) from Kyiv, the capital, where early Sunday, a blast was heard and the sound of air-raid alarms reverberated throughout the capital.

As clashes intensified, some 160,000 people have already been internally displaced, and about 100,000 people have fled Ukraine and gone to Poland, according to United Nations estimates.

THOUSANDS FLEEING

Thousands more are fleeing to Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Moldova, Worthy News monitored.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity or water, and the U.N. fears up to

5 million people could be forced to flee the country.

In response to the ongoing Russian invasion, the European Union, Britain, United States, and Canada blocked Russia’s access to the SWIFT international banking payment system.

In a statement issued by the White House, the countries said they condemned “[Vladimir] Putin’s war of choice and attacks on the sovereign nation and people of Ukraine.”

It added: “We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.”

The decision will remove key Russian banks from the Swift network, effectively disconnecting them from the international financial system

The Western nations also pledged to prevent Russia’s central bank from evading sanctions and stop wealthy Russians from gaining “golden passports.”

And as street battles were ongoing, the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands were sending more weapons to aid Ukraine’s war effort. Germany had been reluctant to deliver weapons citing its World War Two history.

Western allies, including the United States, are also sending thousands of additional forces to NATO military alliance member states in Eastern Europe. Several countries, including Poland, fear Russia could go beyond Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin seeks to re-establish the Soviet Union and increase Russia’s influence.

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