Russian Forces Capture Europe’s Largest Nuclear Plant
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News reporting from the Hungarian-Ukrainian border
ZÁHONY, HUNGARY (Worthy News) – Ukraine says Russian forces have seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, and there is concern about the use of cluster bombs in the ongoing Russian invasion. With the offensive escalating, many people flee the war-torn nation, including to the Hungarian- Ukrainian border.
Women and children are among the many desperate refugees here, overwhelming Záhony, the Hungarian border village of some 4,000 people.
More are expected as Ukrainian authorities say several people have been killed and injured when the fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following a Russian attack.
The fire has been extinguished, and officials say the site is safe. Yet, the West has condemned Russia for what it views as a “horrific” and “reckless” act.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the attack could have caused “six Chernobyls,” referencing the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
CLUSTER BOMBS
Additionally, the NATO military alliance secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has accused Russia of violating the convention banning cluster bombs, which came into force in 2010. “We have seen the use of cluster bombs, and we have seen reports of the use of other types of weapons which would be in violation of international law,” he told reporters in Brussels.
“And of course, NATO and NATO allies and partners are collecting information and monitoring very closely what is going in Ukraine, “Stoltenberg said.
“So I welcome the decision by the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into this. Because we have to make sure that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the president of Belarus [Alexander Lukashenko] are held accountable for what they do,” he stressed.
“This is brutality, this is inhumane, and this is violating international law. And we also have to make sure that the International Criminal Court really looks into this,” Stoltenberg added.
The attacks added to concerns among traumatized refugees about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
PRAYERS SAID
Many people have come to Záhony at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border.
Church volunteers, including Péter Kiss, are trying to provide spiritual and practical support to the thousands of people arriving at the train station here. “We pray every day for Ukraine and the refugees,” said Péter Kiss of the Budapest-based Faith Church, a Pentecostal congregation.
His group distributes food and drinks among refugees while trying to share the “hope of the Lord” among refugees who he says “have uncertainty in their eyes.” Kiss hopes the war will be over soon.
His words come as scores of people have been killed since Thursday by Russian airstrikes in Ukraine’s northern city of Chernihiv.
Despite the heavy fighting, authorities say Russia’s estimated 200,000 troops involved in the offensive only managed to seize one city so far, Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Moscow invaded Ukraine on three fronts, the north, east, and south. The fighting continues as Europe’s worst conflict since World War Two rapidly escalates.
That has added to international worries that many more people will flee Ukraine. The United Nations says more than a million people have fled Ukraine so far, and many more are on the way.
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