We Need to Talk About the War in Ukraine because on Friday, Feb. 25; a nuclear catastrophe was “narrowly averted” after a battle near Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant.
I’m Gloria Moraga; this is One-On-One! Please talk to each other about this war in Ukraine. Please share my podcast and subscribe.
The Art of War
I begin this episode with a quote from Sun Tzu, 6th Century BC, a Chinese General Military Strategist and philosopher; He is credited as the author of the book, “The Art of War.”
Three Quotes:
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
“Warfare should only be a last resort, and heading into battle is already admitting a kind of defeat.”
“In the practical art of war, the best thing is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; shatter and destroy it is not so good.”
Sun Tzu would disapprove of fighting a war near a nuclear power plant.
It is clear Vladimir Putin has not read Sun Tzu. If he has, he is choosing to ignore it.
The Feb. 25 Zaporizhzhia Shelling
It’s more important than ever that we talk about what is happening in Ukraine.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. warns nuclear catastrophe was “narrowly averted.”
The Near Catastrophe
On Friday, February 25, Russian forces broke through a barricade surrounding Ukraine’s biggest nuclear energy facility in Zaporizhzhia.
There was fighting and an exchange of gunfire at an adjacent training facility. But, a Russian shell hit reactor number 1. That reactor facility has extra thick walls, so the walls were not breached.
However, there was a fire.
This is a quote from the New York Times.
“If you have a cloud with nuclear isotopes which can be formed in this accident at Z.N.P.P., then only God knows where it will go,” Petro Kotin, the acting president of Energoatom, the state company that runs Ukraine’s nuclear energy facilities, said, referring to Zaporizhzhia.”
THIRTY TONS OF PLUTONIUM
Here is the problem.
The plant and nearby towns are now under Russian occupation.
Soldiers are seizing food from the town’s shops, but there is no heat, water, or electricity.
The Russians did not send nuclear experts to run the plant. So Ukraine’s are still at the plant running the reactors.
More combat there could endanger the site’s spent fuel rods. Those fuel rods contain about 30 tons of plutonium.
30 TONS OF PLUTONIUM.
If there is a meltdown, we have a nuclear disaster.
Ukraine says this is turning into a nuclear war.
World Insanity
This is madness. Madness. Who decides to wage war near a nuclear power plant?
Vladimir Putin. That’s who. This is the man Donald Trump said is “genius” for invading Ukraine.
More Putin Threats
The nuclear plant shelling and fire happened on the last Friday in February. I’m recording this episode on Saturday, March 5.
Vladimir Putin says Western sanctions on Russia are almost a declaration of war. He wants the sanctions lifted.
And he says that anyone imposing a no-fly zone on Ukraine would be considered to have entered the conflict;
Military experts say that Putin is searching for a way to punish the United States and our allies for supporting Ukraine and imposing sanctions.
Because he is feeling backed into a corner because the sanctions are hurting.
Civilian Deaths
Forty-seven people were killed in a Russian airstrike in a residential neighborhood on Thursday, Feb. 24.
Russia promised a cease-fire so civilians could evacuate. Instead, they continued bombing. Children are dying. Civilians are dying.
Are these war crimes. Yes, we are all concerned, but we need to do more than send good wishes.
Because a nuclear catastrophe was “narrowly averted.”
Humanitarian Crisis
More than 1.4 million people have fled Ukraine.
So there is a refugee crisis, a humanitarian crisis, and the United Nation’s World Food Program warns there will be a food crisis.
Those leaving are primarily women, children, and the elderly.
Younger men are staying to fight.
Military experts say Ukraine is digging in, and urban warfare could drag on.
Are you Watching?
The videos are heartbreaking. Look anywhere, and you can watch the human stories.
Mothers are carrying disabled children for miles, standing in a train holding the children on the entire trip so that they can get them to a safe hospital.
Older people are walking across the border and struggling to climb over rocks, barely able to carry a few belongings.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, calls for the US to send aircraft to Ukraine in a video call with US Congress.
Congressmembers described a ‘desperate plea’ for military aid to more than 280 senators and representatives as Congress.
Congress is working on a $10 billion package.
The military aid would include planes, drones, and anti-aircraft missiles. The Ukrainian president praised sanctions placed upon Russia during the meeting but pressed US lawmakers to do more.
It’s now Sunday, so we will see what happened with Congress on Monday.
President Joe Biden
President Biden has put the United States on an intelligent, prudent course right now.
‘The Supreme Art of War is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
President Biden is doing that.
“Warfare should only be a last resort, and heading into battle is already admitting a kind of defeat.”
Putin invaded Ukraine and launched a war.
He is inflicting pain on Ukraine’s people and the Russian people.
The war is not only resulting in the deaths of soldiers, but it is killing innocent civilians, including children.
When Russia began bombing Ukraine, a former President and his puppets on the Fox entertainment network said stupid things.
Unfortunately, millions of Americans believe what they say.
Gotta Speak Up
We are in a crisis here in the US. We are in the middle of a civil war encouraged by these same people.
The sane majority must stay sane and stay up to date on what is happening in the world. Because Putin, like Trump, is a madman.
Finally.
Who brings guns and missiles to a Nuclear Power Plant?
