Russian armed forces have captured the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine
Local Ukrainian authorities say Russian armed forces have captured the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. At present, according to the statement of the US Secretary of Energy, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been safely shut down.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was attacked by Russian troops earlier today (March 4), but fortunately only the outer warehouse caught fire, the fire has been extinguished, and the accident did not cause any casualties.
(Source: Reuters)
Ukraine currently has 15 nuclear reactors, and if one explosion were to occur, it would be the end of Europe. Ukraine's foreign minister said that if there is an explosion at the nuclear power plant, the consequences will be ten times more serious than the explosion accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, turning it into a huge nuclear disaster.
The Russians and Ukrainians reached agreement on the establishment of humanitarian corridors
On March 3, local time, the second round of discussions between Russia and Ukraine ended, and the two sides said that they have reached an agreement on the establishment of humanitarian channels, a temporary ceasefire to evacuate civilians, and the transportation of medical and food and other materials to the war zone, and in-depth discussions will be held around this topic in the near future.
The head of the Russian delegation, Mezinski, said that the main focus of the talks was to save civilians, and that substantial progress was reached in the negotiations. At present, the agreement reached between the Russian side and the Ukrainian side is awaiting approval by the parliaments of the two countries. The third round of negotiations will be held next week, and it is not excluded that the Russian and Ukrainian sides will also hold several rounds of negotiations.
Russia firmly plans for war against Ukraine
During the second week of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russian troops were blocked in northern Kiev, and the siege of other northern cities was difficult to make progress. Putin said in a communication last night in French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia must achieve its goals for the operation by any means, and he also said that if Ukraine delays negotiations, the Russian side's demands will only increase. Macron's aides later expressed Macron's pessimism about where the situation would go in the future.
In this regard, Russian President Putin said in recent days that the military strategic operations against Ukraine are being carried out in an orderly manner according to the plan, and all operations are currently completed according to the planned time.
At the same time, Putin also praised the Russian soldiers who lost casualties in the war, calling them heroes of the country.
The AIIB has suspended operations with Russia and Belarus
On March 3, the Beijing-based AIIB said it had suspended and reviewed all operations with Russia and Belarus. The AIIB was officially established in January 2016. China has the largest capital contribution, accounting for 30%, and has veto power over important projects such as capital increase. Of the AIIB's current 105 member countries and territories, Russia joined in December 2015 before opening and Belarus joined in January 2019.
The World Bank has also stopped projects in Russia and Belarus. Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said this week that it would not participate in economic sanctions against Russia, and China and relevant parties would continue to maintain normal economic and trade exchanges and financial transactions.
According to foreign media reports, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China have imposed restrictions on funds for the purchase of Russian goods. These restrictions relate to measures such as halting the issuance of letters of credit denominated in United States dollars.
The Russo-Ukrainian war will exacerbate the refugee problem in Europe
According to statistics, the Russo-Ukrainian war caused more than 1 million refugees to flee Ukraine in one week.
According to the UN REFUGEE agency, if the Russo-Ukrainian war continues, more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees may be generated in the coming months, which will greatly aggravate the refugee problem in Europe and may even trigger the worst refugee crisis in Europe in more than 70 years.
After Russian attacks on Kiev, ukraine's capital, and Kharkiv, the second largest city, large-scale civilians rushed to the subway stations, causing a massive influx of refugees. More than half of the refugees fled to Poland, while the rest dispersed into European countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, moldova, and countless people were also homeless and wandering around.
(Source: UNHCR)
UNHCR Administrator Grandi Grandi said that those countries that are willing to accept refugees are heartwarming, but only through diplomatic dialogue and other means to calm the fighting as soon as possible can truly solve the refugee problem.
IKEA and Nike announced the closure of stores in Russia
Yesterday (March 3), the sports brand Nike issued a notice saying that due to "deep uneasiness about the devastating crisis facing Ukraine", in view of the rapid changes in the situation, coupled with the increasing challenges of doing business in Russia, it decided to suspend operations in Russia.
(Many Russian people rushed to sweep goods before the IKEA store closed on the 3rd, and there was a long queue on the spot)
At the same time, IKEA also said that the war has a huge impact on human beings and led to serious disruptions in supply chains and terms of trade, and the IKEA Group decided to suspend operations in Russia.
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