Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov has called for UN and IAEA monitoring missions after Russia claimed Ukraine is preparing to use “dirty” nuclear weapons in the region.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reportedly called the defense ministers of several NATO countries (France, Great Britain, Turkey, and the US) over the weekend, claiming that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb.” According to Deutsche Welle and other media outlets, Shoigu did not provide any evidence to support this claim.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned Shoigu’s statements, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling on world leaders to respond “in the strongest possible way” to provocations by Russia.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” stated Zelensky. “I believe that now the world should react as harshly as possible.”
Source: Radio Gdańsk, dw.com
UN officials have warned that more than 40 percent of the Ukrainian population, or roughly 18 million people, are now in need of emergency aid due to Russia’s ongoing war of aggression.
Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting last Friday, Denis Brown, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, described the “sheer depth of the humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukraine as “staggering.”
In addition to discussions on access to healthcare, schooling, and psychosocial support,
Brown highlighted the need to ensure that Ukraine’s civilian population has a safe, decent, and warm place to live for the winter months.
Brown told ambassadors that the UN and the humanitarian community have developed a “separate, specific plan” that includes repairing residential buildings near the frontlines, supplying people with blankets, mattresses, and clothing, and providing generators for schools and heating for hospitals.
The campaign comes amid continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civil infrastructure, including power and thermal plants, as temperatures plummet across the region.
Some 1.5 million Ukrainian people were left without electricity on Sunday after a series of Russian attacks across the country, with residents bracing for additional attacks and potential blackouts.
Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk
Officials have confirmed that Poland is close to selecting a foreign partner to help build its first nuclear power plant after meeting with US partners over the weekend.
Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa and Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin were in Washington over the weekend to discuss nuclear proposals with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Sasin later told reporters there is a „very good chance” that US company Westinghouse would supply the technology for the first three nuclear reactors in Poland.
In mid-September, the US government and the Westinghouse nuclear power company offered to cooperate on civil nuclear energy development in Poland and offered to build six large-scale reactors based on American technology.
Poland has also received construction offers from France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Moskwa said on Friday that the Polish government would choose a contractor for the country’s first nuclear power plant by the end of this year, with 2026 remaining „a realistic date for launching the construction of the first nuclear reactor” in Poland.
Source: Radio Poland
Polish officials announced yesterday that the government has prepared draft legislation to introduce heavier sentences for espionage amid ongoing threats from Russia.
Under the proposed legislation, the punishment for working for a foreign-intelligence service will increase from 1-10 years in prison to a jail term of 5-25 years. Passing along sensitive information will be punishable by a minimum prison sentence of eight years up to life imprisonment, compared to the current maxim penalty of only three years in prison.
Additionally, organizing and directing the activities of a foreign-intelligence service on Polish territory will carry a prison sentence of 10 years up to life imprisonment, a marked increase from the previous minimum punishment of only five years.
According to officials, the proposed regulations were modeled on rules already in place in other countries, including Britain, Estonia, France, Germany, and Sweden.
Source: Radio Poland
Weather
Today will be cool and mostly cloudy, with a chance for rain showers in the morning and evening and a gentle breeze coming in from the south. Temperatures will peak around a high of 15°C, or 59°F, dropping to a low of only 9°C or 48°F overnight. Similar weather is expected for tomorrow, with a chance for some sunshine and clearer skies later in the week.
Elizabeth Peck
