When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Risk Of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Disaster? Just Another Tactic From Putin's Playbook

Military activity near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine has raised fears of a Chernobyl scenario. The UN Secretary-General is meeting with Ukraine’s president to discuss the situation — but threatening nuclear disaster is a tool Putin has used before.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, in southeastern Ukraine, threatened by Russian shelling.

Of the 16 nuclear power plants in the Soviet Union, four were built in Ukraine. Until recently, the most infamous of these was Chernobyl. But now, all eyes are on the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia, located in the south of Ukraine. The plant has become the new center of war in Ukraine since it was captured by Russia on March 4. Its workers are still held hostage.

Stay up-to-date with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war, with our exclusive international coverage.

Sign up to our free daily newsletter.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and its 15 reactors have been under occupation since April. It has effectively become a military base for the Russian army. Armored vehicles are deployed there, and missiles and artillery are launched from the territory of the nuclear plant.


Ukraine cannot respond to these attacks without risking catastrophe — something Putin knows very well, as he is once again weaponizing the threat of nuclear disaster to help his invasion.

Potentially disastrous consequences for Ukraine

On Aug. 15, Eugene Kramarenko, head of the Ukrainian state agency for the management of the Chernobyl zone, said that in case of an accident at the Zaporizhzhia plant, the predicted area of damage could be close to 30,000 square kilometers. Zaporizhzhia currently contains about 18,000 liquid fuel assemblies, which is 10 times more than Chernobyl at the time of its nuclear accident in 1986.

In the event of a nuclear disaster, close to two million square kilometers could be potentially radioactively contaminated.

Russia has claimed that Ukraine is shelling its own nuclear power plant, but these allegations are illogical given the potentially devastating consequences for Ukraine itself.
Footage of shellings hitting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant area

On March 4, Russian shellings hit Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, causing one of its buildings to catch fire.

Cover Images/ZUMA

Another pawn in Putin's playbook

Instead, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has become another pawn in Putin’s playbook of intimidation and manipulation. Back in February, Putin put Russia’s nuclear weapons on high alert.

Putin has said that no one can win a nuclear war and that no such war should ever be started. But in the minds of Putin and the fanatics who support him, the threat of nuclear war is real enough.

Russian television has been airing propaganda for months, openly calling for a nuclear missile strike against "Russia's enemies," whether it be Ukraine, the U.S. or Britain. Putin himself at the time said, "We will go to heaven as martyrs, and they will just die."

Putin will not give up his advantage easily

But even though Putin has invaded a sovereign state and violated international laws, many political leaders still (somewhat naively) believe that Putin is bluffing and can be negotiated with.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is scheduled to meet with the Ukrainian president in Lviv today to address the threat hanging over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

As long as the war is still ongoing, Ukraine has been asking to close the sky over the country. Such requests have so far proved unsuccessful. But Zelensky is expected to ask for help protecting at least the Zaporizhzhia area as well as push for further sanctions to help drive Putin out of the nuclear power plant territory.

In the minds of Putin and the fanatics who support him, the threat of nuclear war is real enough.

But we can already predict the outcome of this meeting. Guterres will voice his acute concern and call on the parties to the conflict to cooperate in preventing an accident at the facility. But nothing will happen, because this situation was much easier to prevent than to resolve.

This war cannot end at the negotiating table, only on the battlefield. Almost all world leaders and experts have already come to this sad conclusion.

Nuclear threat plays into Russia's hands, making Ukraine and the whole world fear Putin’s decisions. This is not an advantage Putin is expected to give up easily.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Ideas

Look At This Crap! The "Enshittification" Theory Of Why The Internet Is Broken

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the fatal drift of major Internet platforms: if they were ever useful and user-friendly, they will inevitably end up being odious.

A photo of hands holding onto a smartphone

A person holding their smartphone

Gilles Lambert/ZUMA
Manuel Ligero

-Analysis-

The universe tends toward chaos. Ultimately, everything degenerates. These immutable laws are even more true of the Internet.

In the case of media platforms, everything you once thought was a good service will, sooner or later, disgust you. This trend has been given a name: enshittification. The term was coined by Canadian blogger and journalist Cory Doctorow to explain the inevitable drift of technological giants toward... well.

The explanation is in line with the most basic tenets of Marxism. All digital companies have investors (essentially the bourgeoisie, people who don't perform any work and take the lion's share of the profits), and these investors want to see the percentage of their gains grow year after year. This pushes companies to make decisions that affect the service they provide to their customers. Although they don't do it unwillingly, quite the opposite.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

Annoying customers is just another part of the business plan. Look at Netflix, for example. The streaming giant has long been riddling how to monetize shared Netflix accounts. Option 1: adding a premium option to its regular price. Next, it asked for verification through text messages. After that, it considered raising the total subscription price. It also mulled adding advertising to the mix, and so on. These endless maneuvers irritated its audience, even as the company has been unable to decide which way it wants to go. So, slowly but surely, we see it drifting toward enshittification.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest