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RUSSIAN TROOPS BEGAN leaving the Chernobyl nuclear plant after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company has aid.
Energoatom, the company, gave no immediate details on the condition of the troops or how many were affected.
But it said the Russians had dug in in the forest inside the exclusion zone around the now-closed plant, the site in 1986 of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
The troops “panicked at the first sign of illness”, which “showed up very quickly,” and began to prepare to leave, Energoatom said.
There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
Its forces seized the Chernobyl site in the opening stages of the 24 February invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation.
The workforce at the site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the exploded reactor.
The pullout came amid continued fighting and indications that the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation as cover while regrouping and resupplying its forces and redeploying them for a stepped-up offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is seeing “a build-up of Russian forces for new strikes on the Donbas, and we are preparing for that”.
Meanwhile, a convoy of buses headed to Mariupol in another bid to evacuate people from the besieged port city after the Russian military agreed to a limited ceasefire in the area.
And a new round of talks aimed at stopping the fighting was scheduled for tomorrow.
The Red Cross said its teams were headed for Mariupol with medical supplies and other relief and hoped to take civilians out of the beleaguered city.
Tens of thousands have managed to get out of Mariupol in the past few weeks by way of humanitarian corridors, reducing the city’s population from a pre-war 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 as of last week, but other efforts have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks.
At the same time, Russian forces shelled Kyiv suburbs, two days after the Kremlin announced it would significantly scale back operations near both the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations”.
Britain’s Defence Ministry also reported “significant Russian shelling and missile strikes” around Chernihiv. The area’s governor, Viacheslav Chaus, said Russian troops were on the move but may not be withdrawing.
Russia’s military also reported new strikes on Ukrainian fuel stores late yesterday, and Ukrainian officials said there were artillery barrages in and around the north-eastern city of Kharkiv over the past day.
Despite the fighting raging in those areas, the Russian military said it committed to a ceasefire along the route from Mariupol to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 45 buses would be sent to collect civilians who have suffered some of the worst privations of the war.
Food, water and medical supplies have all run low during a weekslong blockade and bombardment of the city. Civilians who have managed to leave have typically done so using private cars, but the number of drivable vehicles left in the city has dwindled and fuel is low.
“It’s desperately important that this operation takes place,” the Red Cross said in a statement. “The lives of tens of thousands of people in Mariupol depend on it.”
Talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume tomorrow by video, according to the head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamia, six weeks into a war that has seen thousands die and a staggering four million Ukrainians flee the country.
But there seemed little faith that the two sides would resolve the conflict any time soon, particularly after the Russian military’s attacks in zones where it had offered to dial back.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that conditions were not yet “ripe” for a cease-fire in Ukraine and that he was not ready for a meeting with Zelenskyy until negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said in recounting a telephone conversation he had with the Russian leader yesterday.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said alliance intelligence indicates that Russia is not scaling back its military operations in Ukraine but is instead trying to regroup, resupply its forces and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas.
“Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions,” Stoltenberg said. At the same time, he said, pressure is being kept up on Kyiv and other cities, and “we can expect additional offensive actions bringing even more suffering”.
The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014.
In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its “main goal” now is gaining control of the Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including Mariupol.
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Take the vaccine for others benefit even if you dont take it for your own well being.
@Nomis Andrews: you hardly think they will take it for someone else’s sake do you!!??
@Jonnie Marre: altruistic much?
@Jonnie Marre: It would be nice to think that people would take it for the common good as well as for their own self interest in being safe. The vaccine will only be effective if enough of the population take it. For those who are wavering, thinking of the common good might help them over the line.
@Jonnie Marre: that’s why we wear masks. To protect others and not ourselves!
@jeanette: not really, they protect both!
@jeanette: we wear masks because we needed to be seen to do something, even if there was no evidence of the benefit.
Also where can we draw the line on what is acceptable to save others? Wear a mask every winter? Take a vaccine for every communicable disease known? Pay 80% tax to save others….
Is there anything to be said for, I’ll take my own chances, you take yours?
@Barry C: Fine, take your own chances but don’t ever call an ambulance or fire brigade. Stay off the roads and out of the hospitals and schools, don’t claim any form of social welfare or use any government services. You know, all the things that society pays for that we don’t use all of the time because its for the greater good.
@Barry C: “No evidence of benefit of masks”. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm In short 2 hairdressers with covid who wore masks worked with 139 clients, none of the clients picked up the disease.
@David Horgan: thanks for that. Interesting article that I was unaware of.
It falls a bit short of a rigorous scientific study with control groups and full testing of all participants etc. It does suggest that masks might work but we have lots of things SUGGESTING that but nothing proving it. Not to a level where it is satisfactory to tell the population ” put a mask on or face prison”
@Cian – Wash your: that’s just a silly response and avoids my question/ point. Where does it stop Cian?
Face masks forever? Would you wear an adult nappy when you leave the house, like them Chinese airline staff? You know, for the greater good.
@Barry C: plenty of evidence that masks not only protect others but also protect the wearer. And in the grand scheme of things wearing a mask in the middle of a pandemic is not a big ask at all. It’s an inconvenience at most and yet you still have people whinging about it. The biggest shock to me was there are people who are anti handwashing in all this . Yuck ! We cannot survive without looking out for the common good btw . Selfishness will only get you so far. Life saving measures don’t compare to other measures like paying tax btw.Especially when it’s simple measures like masks social distancing and hand washing ! It’s easy to think you will never be vulnerable and never dependent on others but the time will come and you will be . Then how you treated others will have taught others how to treat you . Remember that .
@Jonnie Marre: I’ve had Covid19 which I hope has given me some level of immunity. But if offered the vaccine I will take it because my siblings are all in their 60s and 70s and I would hate to pass something on to them. I think most younger people will be taking it out of concern for older relatives more so than themselves. I think you underestimate the goodness in the average Irish person
@Barry C: we definitely know not wearing a mask won’t stop it, do you agree with that?
@Barry C: why do surgeons wear masks in an operating theatre?
@Barry C: I wear a mask to protect others. It would be great if it would protect me too but evidence just shows it might protect the person wearing it.
As far as I’m concerned these vaccines can’t come fast enough. I put my faith in medicine and science to get back as close to normality as we can. The false information and scare mongering regarding covid by anti vaxxers is nothing short of criminal.
@Gavin Courtney: agree on the anti vax people, but I’m weary of the opinion that a fast vaccination will bring us back to normal. While I have hope for mRNA vaccines, especially in cancer care, they have literally just been released. There are a lot of checks and balances that have been bypassed for fast vaccination, so much so that there seems to be an arms race to vaccinate as many people as possible. Any rational scientist would err on the side of caution and long term reviews on side effects, but this is ignored because of the exact anti vax gombeens.
As a country, we should observe trials elsewhere and keep lockdowns for another few months. Unfortunately, people are literally begging for this to be injected into them at a time when caution is needed.
@James Ward: So 22,000 people hit the vaccine . The side effects are minimal . Chances for most people of getting severe Covid 500 to one . I’ll take my chances with the vaccine thanks
@James Ward: this might be the first one released but they have been working on Mrna vaccines since the early 2000s and Sars
@Gavin Courtney: Absolutely true. I have done some research on the Pfizer vaccine and it is a medical marvel I would have complete confidence in its safety.
@Adrian Versey: what’s in it do you know?
@James Ward: can you provide me with evidence that lots of checks and balances have been bypassed please ?
@James Ward: to really get a true understanding of rna there’s over 40 years of work gone into it, this scaremongering is being fed by…..ignorance https://www.americanscientist.org/article/the-women-who-discovered-rna-splicing
It’s Depressing watching the vaccine being rolled out in the UK, US,and now Canada while we are told the EU regulator might be approving one or two by the end of the month and once voted on by the 27 EU countries they will start to distribute .Our Taoiseach says we will get limited supplies in January or February and more in March , April, and May.
FFS hurry up willya !
@Terry Cahill: Here here !!
The top of the page says 32 comments. There are 19 in the comments section. Never let it be said that this is an open forum or that the journal do not censor any comments that go even remotely against their narrative.
@Michael Philips: Different narratives are fine . Lies and misinformation aren’t different narratives though . They are just lies and misinformation . The journal are most likely removing anti vaxx misinformation posts . The journal have led the way on countering lies and misinformation during this pandemic with their fact check articles . Anti vaxxers always cry censorship when they aren’t allowed spread their lies and misinformation . You should know that. It’s a common tactic .
@Michael Philips: in fairness to the journal, and I say this as someone who has been edited by them several times, they don’t claim to be an “open forum” and have Ts&Cs regarding what can and can’t be posted. Do you know what comments were deleted and what “narrative” they went against?
@Purplepickle: will you stop their fact checked articles were a stretch at best in most. I’m all for the vaccine but don’t be fooled by cheap media. They used the Pfizer press release as part of their fact check rather than the published papers which came later. Bit of sense is needed in all this too you know
Anti-vaxxers get on average 125 points in the leaving cert. Fact.
@Gearóid Ó Tuama: I’d be surprised if most of them made it as far as the leaving
@Gearóid Ó Tuama: that’s 125 more than you got I’d say.
@James Ferguson: I got 725, extra points for being so amazing at everything.
@Gearóid Ó Tuama: it’s a class issue is it???? Look at the bias. Gwan ya troll
@Gearóid Ó Tuama: I hear you’ve a 12 inch tongue and can breather through your ears. The ladies love you I’d say and the bottoms of the boys behind the shed
Reposting due to the journal’s censorship policy of deleting any comments they don’t align with their narrative. It is not known if the vaccine reduces transmission or provides immunity – Albert Bourla – CEO Pfizer. Many medical experts have said the same. The vaccine is claimed to suppress symptoms and so will create asymtomatic spreaders. The vaccine cannot have a statistically significant impact in saving lives in under 70’s due to the death rate being so low. Apart from that it’s what we’ve all been waiting for.
@Michael Philips: It’s not known YET if it reduces transmission but at the moment the belief is it is . They are just waiting on more data. The vaccine will likely provide full protection in the vast majority of people taking it and for the rest the severe complications will be removed . There are people behind all those statistics . Just because you don’t think you will die doesn’t mean it’s ok if others die. There is 32% of the population of Ireland with underlying conditions . Death rates aren’t higher because of shielding and cocooning by the vast majority of them. These people want very much to get back to work college school and their lives . So this is what we are waiting for .
are they really vaccines ? they dont stop you catching covid but reduce symptoms. that sounds like treatmenter to me. yo still have to isolate and social distance everywhere as far as I can see.
@ed w: bring back red thumbs
@Fabio Dillon: why this is what I’m reading in scientific papers that the Pfizer vaccine reduces symptoms it doesnt prevent infection ? or did I read that wrong ?
And the band played on
What is keeping the role out of vacationing when thousands are dead?
Who is responsible?
Why and how many more will die because of the delay?
Please someone ask the question.
@Hubert Morris MIPAV: commenting while driving Hubert?!
@Hubert Morris MIPAV: try following the news a bit more closely instead of demanding answers here. All your answers can be found there. There’s no delay.
@Paul Furey: not a delay because the regulators for EU have not approved it yet but certainly very slow and no word until 29 th December . everyone will have a nice peaceful christmas with all the work done and hold back the approval til 29th . how convenient . of course it was for safety concerns but I would bet it’s ready for approval and it should be approved and rolling out by now… to save lives I imagine.
Why does Ronan Glynn always look gloomy
@Paul Dolan: because he is tired from working so hard.
@Paul Dolan: He has to report the number of people who are sick or dead on TV everyday. What do you want him to do, whistle Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah?
it would have been better to vaccinate one whole country first to see if it works, say a small country eg iceland has a population of approx half a million or estonia 1 million.
@michael macken: the optics of using one country as Guinea Pigs wouldn’t be great
What the hell is this man talking about have they all decided the EU is rulng on all this and sure they have eve discussed it yet ??
have your say