THE FOUNDER and CEO of Chernobyl Children's Project International has appealed for the highly contaminated area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station to not be targeted in the ongoing conflict by Russia against Ukraine.
Adi Roche, from Tipperary and who founded the organisation in 1991, said she was making the "appeal on behalf of all humanity, but mostly on behalf of the citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, and indeed on behalf of the citizens of Europe."
She asked for the warring armies, under the Hague Conventions, not to target or use the area surrounding the power station for shelling, bombardment and ground fighting.
Ukrainian officials said yesterday that Russian military forces seized control of the nuclear power plant.
An explosion at Chernobyl in 1986 led to the worst nuclear disaster in human history, both in cost and casualty.
"My worst nightmare in this conflict is that the tragedy of the Chernobyl disaster could be re-released on the world," Ms Roche said.
"I fear that this area, a sacred area, an area of utter vulnerability and danger, a special area of human tragedy, could once again, have deadly radioactive contamination released, which would spread everywhere, like a great and uncontrollable monster."
She explained that the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has vast silos of nuclear waste and water "which are highly dangerous and volatile."
"Along with hundreds of shallow ‘nuclear graves’, which are scattered throughout the Exclusion Zone, holding the contents of thousands of houses, machinery, buses and trucks, all of which have been buried there to keep the radiation underground. Should a bomb, missile, a shot-down plane or helicopter crash into this area, the consequences could be disastrous.
"In the name of humanity, in the name of the children, please stop this war and declare the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone as a ‘Safe No War Zone'," she finished.
Meanwhile, the European Union has adopted a package of sanctions to respond to the decision by the Russian Federation to recognise the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities.
The sanctions package comprises targeted restrictive measures on a number of individuals and entities, restrictions on economic relations with the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and financial restrictions against Russia.
Preparations of a second, more extensive EU sanctions package, are underway in response to Russia’s subsequent attack on Ukraine.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the sanctions are built on five pillars (financial sector, transport sector, energy sector, export controls and visa policy) and will "have maximum impact on the Russian economy and the political elite."
The package will cut Russia's access to the most important capital markets, with 70% of the Russian banking market being targeted.
"These sanctions will increase Russia's borrowing costs, raise inflation and gradually erode Russia's industrial base. We are also targeting the Russian elite by curbing their deposits so that they cannot hide their money anymore in safe havens in Europe," von der Leyen said.
Other sanctions will target Russia's ability to upgrade its oil refineries, ban the sale of all aircrafts, spare parts and equipment to Russian airlines and limit Russia's access to crucial technology.
"We must be very clear in our analysis: Putin is trying to subjugate a friendly European country," she finished.
"And he is trying to redraw the maps of Europe by force. He must, and he will, fail."
