By supporting Zelensky’s offensive on Russian soil, the US lost what was left of his common sensesays vice chancellor

▲ House destroyed by Russian bombing in Zaporizhia, Ukraine.Photo Ap

Juan Pablo Duch

Correspondent

The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, August 28, 2024, p. 29

Moscow. After inspecting yesterday the reactors and control room of the Kursk nuclear power plant in the Russian city of Kurchatov, 70 kilometres from the border with Ukraine, Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressed his concern about the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of the plant.

We believe it is very serious that a power plant of this kind is so close to a battle front.Grossi told the international press at the end of his visit, after indicating that the reactors are exposed to a possible attackcalled on Russians and Ukrainians to take preventive measures to avoid a catastrophe.

Under no circumstances should a nuclear power plant be attacked. and this one, moreover, lacks the defense and containment structures that have more modern plantswhile The reactor core is located under a normal roofwhich makes it fragile and extremely exposed to a possible attack.

According to the head of the IAEA, Russia and Ukraine must commit to guaranteeing the safety of the Kursk nuclear power plant, since an impact could cause a nuclear incident, with radioactive leak.

Grossi, who announced that he will travel to kyiv to express his concern to the authorities, visited the plant on Tuesday, three weeks after Ukrainian troops crossed the border on August 6 to fight on Russian territory.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense admitted yesterday that the Ukrainian army continues its attempts to advance in the Kursk region and stated that, in the last 24 hoursRussian armed forces repelled at least 11 attacks in that sector of the fighting front.

According to the daily report issued by that ministry, Reconnaissance and search operations continue to annihilate enemy sabotage groups in the forests of the Kursk regionwhile aviation and artillery struck fresh blows in the border area in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

Also, in its gradual advance towards Pokrovsk, in the part of Donetsk under Ukrainian control, the Russian army announced yesterday that liberated the Ukrainian town of Orlivkasome 30 kilometers from the logistics hub, which – military analysts say – suggests that the front is continuing to widen in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian troops there, just as they have not ruled out surrounding Russian units in the Glushkovo district (Kursk).

Those who follow the events on the battlefields on a daily basis believe that Ukraine, without committing more troops than the reinforcements it has already sent, is practically in no position to advance further on Kursk, while Russia – which has moved nearly 30,000 troops from other fronts, and to a lesser extent from Donetsk – cannot expel the Ukrainians from its territory either; it would need 20,000 more soldiers that it does not have available at the moment.

In some way, this was confirmed yesterday by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army, Oleksandr Syrskyi, when he participated via videoconference in the Ukraine-2024: Independence forum, held in kyiv, where he said that the country keep making progressoccupies 1,294 square kilometers of enemy territory and 100 Russian locations in Kursk. A week ago there were 92 localities and 1,250 square kilometers.

According to Syrskyi, the operation on Russian soil prevented Russia from launching a new offensive on Ukrainian territory. They had plans to carry out an offensive in the northeastern region of Sumy, so we need to create a security zone to prevent a Russian incursion and protect the inhabitants of the area.he explained.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed a similar opinion when he held a press conference in kyiv, broadcast live on YouTube. We have to defend our territory and, to do so, we use all means from Russian territory so that it does not occupy ours.Zelensky said, reiterating that he has no intention of seizing foreign territories.

Without providing details, Zelensky announced that on the occasion of the recent Independence Day, which was commemorated last Saturday, Ukraine successfully tested its first home-made ballistic missilewhich will allow it to attack targets in Russia further from the border.

In this regard, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov said yesterday that the United States lost what was left of his common sense by supporting the Ukrainian offensive on Russian soil and its drone strikes inside the country.