Zelenskyy issues ’nuclear terrorism’ warning as Russia seizes power plant

Mar 4 2022

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been seized by the Russian military following a fire sparked by overnight shelling which burned for several hours at the largest facility of its kind in Europe. This was announced by regional authorities, with Ukrainian state inspectorate for nuclear regulation saying that despite the seizure by Russian forces, employees were continuing to work on the premises.

‘Changes in the radiation state for the current time have not been recorded’ the statement said. Two power units had been disconnected from the network and nuclear installations were being cooled down. However, a warning was issued that any loss of the possibility to cool down nuclear fuel will lead to significant radioactive releases into the environment which could ‘exceed all previous accidents at nuclear power plants, including the Chernobyl accident and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to ‘wake up now’, stating that the largest nuclear station in Europe is on fire. ‘If there will be an explosion, it will be the end to all of us: the end of Europe, the evacuation of Europe.’ He went on to accuse Russia of nuclear terror as ‘no country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units. This is the first time in our history, in the history of mankind, the terrorist state has now resorted to nuclear terror.’

The fire was extinguished shortly after and no injuries were reported among staff. However, Russian authorities have claimed they are not responsible for the fire, saying their forces came under attack while patrolling the plant from Ukrainian saboteurs. Foreign ministers from NATO nations are meeting in Brussels today March 4th to discuss the invasion and possible actions to be taken as Ukraine requests the joining of the EU as well as a no-fly zone to be enforced over their airspace.

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Superyacht of Russian oligarch docked at Vittoriosa marina amid sanctions

Mar 4 2022

A Superyacht which is owned by a Russian multi-millionaire with Maltese citizenship sailed and docked in the Grand Harbour this Friday.

This comes as several countries press sanction on allies of Vladimir Putin following the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The 70-meter Polaris is owned by Maxim Shubarev, who pursed Maltese citizenship in 2018.

Sources revealed that Shubarev was not personally on board the vessel which is in turn held by Polaris Charters limited, a Malta-based company owned by Shubarev.

The 59-year-old oligarch is the chairman of Setl Group, a major Russian construction company based in St Petersburg. Online sites estimate that he has a net worth of around $500 million.

Following the invasion, the EU issued sanctions against 680 individuals and 53 entities linked to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. The sanctions are meant to target wealthy Russians and thus limit their movement but Shubarev does not appear to be on the list of oligarchs to be sanctioned.

The Maltese government has revealed none of the Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the EU so far have Maltese citizenship. This follows a special address earlier this week by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who said that European ports must be closed off to the super yachts owned by wealthy Russians.

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Photo Source: Newsbook (Miguela Xuereb)

Melita fibre cable damage cuts internet service in south of Malta

Mar 4 2022

Melita announced that one of their fibre cables has been damaged, leading to internet cut-offs for any customers in the south of Malta. The company stated that the damage was resulting in no service for customers and that it could take up to four hours to repair.

Melita informed its clients that work is being undertaken to fix the cable, updating everyone on the situation. The company’s Paola, Tarxien, Ghaxaq and Marsaskala outlets are also being affected and thus temporarily closed.

These are the localities impacted by the shortage:

Birgu, Birzebbuga, Bormla, Bulebel, Delimara, Fawwara, Fgura, Għaxaq, Gudja, Ħal Far, Kalkara, Kirkop, Kordin, Marsa, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk, MIA, Mqabba, Paola, Qajjenza, Qrendi, Safi, Senglea, Smart City, St Lucia, Tarxien, Xgħajra, Zabbar, Zejtun and Zurrieq.

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Youths more worried about cost of living in Malta than grey-listing

Mar 4 2022

According to a survey commissioned by the Times of Malta, concerns about rising prices and cost of living have shot up over just six months. A quarter of respondents, at 25.2%, stated that the cost of living is one of the country’s biggest issues. This is up from 6.3% in August. The survey was carried out between February 14th and February 24h by market research firm Esprimi.

Price concerns were just slightly below worries about healthcare and the COVID-19 pandemic. Health was cited as one of the main problems the country is facing by 27.2% of people. In third place was corruption, with 20.8% of respondents citing the issue. Half of the people who claimed they vote for the Nationalist Party cited corruption as one of the country’s problems.

On the other side of the coin, corruption was only brought up as an issue by 7.3% of people who said they intend to vote for Labour in the next general election. This follows a governmental move to ease public concern about rising prices through handouts as well as energy and fuel bill freezing. If the concerns were broken down, cost of living increases were cited as a problem by youths the most. A total of 42.5% of people aged between 16 and 24 mentioned prices as being of the country’s main issues.

Both the environment and the grey listing of Malta feature very low on the list of concerns. Only 12.3% raised the environment as being one of the country’s problem, below traffic, parking and public transport at 13.3%. As for the grey-listing, only 6.5% of people brought it up. The economy was cited as a problem by 5.3% of people, and the government as a whole by just 1.3%. Malta’s reputation abroad only factored in at a minimal 0.8%.

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