admire the leadership of Kaja Kallas. Between her and Zelensky, just stellar individuals to be heads of state (or EU foreign policy chief, in Kallas's case now).

And if he can do the same to the EU, all the better.

Europe snubbed him; he will have his revenge.

Estonian public broadcasting ERR has the Belgian article, but without a link.

In fact, it's been banned in Russia for a couple of years:

1. OK I got nothing.

We will NEVER be trusted again. Vlad must be peeing himself with joy.

... if Russia really wanted to attack the old Chernobyl power plant, it would not be by a single drone smashing into the roof. This is clearly just an alarming accident, which again shows how dangerous such wars can be for the whole world - and how filling more arms into that area is only making it worse. So much fighting and killing, and the frontline has barely moved in years ...

tell me please, what military asset is even close to the Chernobyl Nuclear site?



The Chernobyl Sarcophagus is one of the larger buildings in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Power_Plant_sarcophagus

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus or Shelter Structure (Ukrainian: Об'єкт "Укриття", romanized: Ob'yekt "Ukryttya", Russian: Объект «Укрытие», romanized: Ob"yekt «Ukrytiye») is a massive steel and concrete structure covering the nuclear reactor number 4 building of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Hastily built in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the sarcophagus was designed to limit radioactive contamination of the environment by encasing the most dangerous area and protecting it from climate exposure.[1][2] The sarcophagus locked in 200 tons of radioactive lava-like corium, 30 tons of highly contaminated dust and 16 tons of uranium and plutonium.[1]

Structurally, the sarcophagus is largely supported by the damaged reactor building. By 1996, the structure had deteriorated to the point where numerous stabilization measures were required. Internal radiation levels were estimated to be as high as 10000 röntgens per hour in certain areas (normal background radiation in cities is usually around 20–50 microröntgens per hour, and a lethal dose is 500 röntgens over 5 hours).[3] By 2017, the sarcophagus was surrounded by the New Safe Confinement structure, which is designed to protect the environment while the sarcophagus undergoes demolition and the nuclear cleanup continues. The reactor site is located within a large restricted area known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

This will be an extremely hazardous ( to all of eastern Europe, Belarus, and even Russia, not to mention Ukraine ) site until we can develop and deploy the needed radioactive resistive robots that can go into the site and remove all of the material from there... and figure out what to do with it all ). So far, in the last 40 years, few solutions have been offered.

bombing this site was no accident.

... what military assets are close to there?

on the Danube river. Military supplies travel this route from EU countries into Ukraine.

I am well aware of Russian drone strikes in Romania. When the war started I sent my girlfriend to the border to welcome the Ukrainian refugees streaming over the Danube with little belonging... She was part of a massive Romanian response who welcomed the refugees with toys for the children and blankets and, most importantly, money to help them get into Europe and get official aid from governments.

Russia is also trying to stop the exports of grain and other goods to hurt the Ukraine economy.

Definitely targeted. There are no battles being fought in these areas, but all of them are likely targeted...

Moldova actually has Russian troops in an area named Transnistria.. The Moldovan government would like them to all leave but doesn't want to start a war with Russia to do it.

Poland and Ukraine share a longer border than Romania and Ukraine. It is another place where there are large movements of military equipment into Ukraine. So that's not an accident either.

As for Latvia... I am pretty sure Russia want to start something there, so probably not an accident. More of a warning shot saying "you guys in the Baltic states are next"

Your assertion that Russia is just having a number of accidents is likely Kremlin propaganda. You should check your sources before making such claims.

... and that stupidity is what Putin's government is most famous for, much more than skills or resourcefulness. That is why he is stuck with a war for years, which was promised to be concluded in weeks. And as your "analysis" shows, Putin is still saluted as if he is a skilled three-dimensional chess player - some one must be trusting that Kremlin propaganda way too much, and it is not me!

and the excuse then given should itlsef be supported by evidence. You have not.

Someone else has addressed the rationales for strikes on Ukraine's supportive neighbours. One could be put down to carelessness and incompetence; numerous ones looks more like a concerted campaign with frequent oopsies.

In terms of Chornobyl, you have to think in terms of terrorism - just like Putin's urban strike with his Wunderwaffe Oreshnik, this attack wasn't intended to produce all-out obliteration, it's part of Putin's campaign of intimidation and disruptive "what if" scenarios.

The Russians have been occupying and menacing Ukrainian nuclear power plants since early in this latest hot phase of the war, to the extent that the IAEA has had to put up a permanent presence in them to have staff in place to try to cope with any more "mishaps".

A strike on any of the outlying support facilities for these plants, as has happened before, could be even more serious than a hit on them directly - they require backup power to operate relatively safely, which has at times been compromised, which has led to desperate scrambles.

A "stupid accident" here, another one there, and pretty soon you have full-blown disaster.

The symbolic power of the Chornobyl name and the timing in these early stages of possible negotiations are a bit too much of a coincidence to be written off cavalierly as you're doing.

So, as you've already been asked, what "legitimate" wartime target in the vicinity of Chornobyl do you suggest they were aiming for?

This line of yours right here says it all. Straight out of the pro-Russian propaganda playbook arguing to stop supporting Ukraine and let Russia keep it's ill-gotten gains.

... return with arguments, if you ever find some .

I remember those nice olden days here at DU, when it was still possible to be against war, without getting such weird attacks!

It's the same one MAGA has used for years. Basically, let Russia take Ukraine as a "humanitarian option", because the war itself is so bloody.

Ignoring that Russia started it, Ukraine has the right and desire to defend themselves, that Russia will keep killing Ukrainians in captured territory even after the war ends because they'll be an occupation force, and that Russia will just rearm and come back in a few years for more.

Appeasement of a dictator is a game for fools.

... so brave. Ready to keep on "fighting" until the last Ukrainian is killed.

We in Europe are in solidarity with them.

But you can sit in comfort feeling pure in the safety of distance because you won't sanction a country continuing to defend itself against literal genocide, cheered on by Trump and his cronies. So that's good.