Latest / Combat Veteran News / Russia HITS Chernobyl Nuclear Facility!

Transcript

Russia HITS Chernobyl Nuclear Facility! · Combat Veteran News

0:00
Sure, Russia is an invading imperial
0:02
power, but they're not monsters. They're
0:04
not just going to, say, create a massive
0:07
radiological contamination incident for
0:09
no reason or target civilians. Right,
0:12
guys? Right. Oh, man. They did. Yeah,
0:17
that's right. A Russian drone has
0:19
damaged the Chernobyl nuclear waste
0:20
storage facility uh in the exclusion
0:23
zone. Now, the state nuclear operator
0:26
for Ukraine, an Argo AAM, reported that
0:29
the attack partially destroyed a
0:30
container reception building.
0:32
Firefighters quickly responded and
0:34
extinguished the blaze caused by the
0:36
impact and there has been no spike
0:38
detected in radiation levels. But the
0:40
real question is why? Why is Russia
0:44
doing this? So
0:47
this is from a statement again this is
0:50
coming directly from Ukraine's national
0:52
nuclear energy generation company atom
0:55
which is responsible for the Chernobyl
0:57
exclusion zone and the recklessness of
1:02
this is really hard to overstate because
1:06
there's a couple of arguments here. Now
1:08
we know that Russia has routinely
1:10
targeted energy infrastructure. That's
1:12
almost a given at this point. But when
1:14
they target energy infrastructure, one,
1:17
they've never targeted an active nuclear
1:19
power plant, but two, they have also
1:24
never gone after uh uh
1:29
ineffective targets. They've only gone
1:31
after energy generation facilities that
1:33
are providing power to civilians. And
1:35
that's not because Russia are good
1:37
people. It's because it's a waste of
1:39
resources to go after something else.
1:41
And this is what makes this so damning
1:44
is that this is a spent nuclear fuel
1:46
storage facility. Now, when it comes to
1:49
spent nuclear fuel, what this is is a
1:52
byproduct of nuclear reactors. Nuclear
1:54
reactors use these fuel rods, they
1:56
create fision, but at some point they
1:57
sort of run out of juice, for lack of a
1:59
better term, and they have to get
2:00
retired, but they're still deeply
2:02
radioactive. And so most countries have
2:06
isolated places usually usually away
2:10
from things like towns and water sources
2:12
where they can store spent nuclear fuel.
2:15
For example, the United States stores in
2:18
deep underground in caves in the Nevada
2:20
desert far away from any other people.
2:24
And over tens of thousands of years, the
2:26
waste will slowly become less
2:27
radioactive and um uh like degrade into
2:33
an inert substance. And so, but for
2:36
Ukraine, Ukraine has we'll describe it
2:38
as an advantage here in that it already
2:41
has an area that has been deliberately
2:44
cleared and is already a nuclear waste
2:47
storage area, Chernobyl. Right. As
2:50
messed up as it is to think about, yeah,
2:52
the area around Chernobyl in the
2:53
exclusion zone is free of habitable
2:56
people already contains a large nuclear
2:58
waste storage uh and monitoring
3:00
infrastructure. So, it just makes sense
3:02
to put their nuclear waste storage
3:03
facility nearby. But the thing that
3:06
makes this kind of damning is that exact
3:08
reason. You see, the Russians would
3:11
perhaps argue that, oh, well, this was a
3:15
uh accident that we tried to hit Kev or
3:18
Chernav, and instead a drone simply went
3:21
rogue and accidentally bumped into the
3:23
Chernobyl facility. Well, there's a
3:25
problem with that. Namely, that there is
3:28
nothing here. This is the town of
3:31
Chernobyl. It is abandoned. Here is
3:34
Prepriot abandoned itself. Here is the
3:37
Chernobyl reactor. the site of the
3:39
iconic sarcophagus.
3:41
You can see here there's absolutely no
3:44
target anywhere for miles and miles and
3:46
miles. There's no chance this was an
3:48
accident. Now, before we talk about the
3:52
couple of messages I think Russia is
3:53
trying to send here and then what
3:55
Russia's really trying to do, I want to
3:57
mention, of course, guys, that is the
3:59
last day, second to last day, excuse me,
4:01
of the Strike Gum dual promo sale. You
4:03
can use promo code summer sale. get 20%
4:05
off your entire order. Get the energy
4:07
drink or sorry, the energy drink
4:09
alternative so that you don't have to
4:11
spend five bucks at a gas station every
4:13
time you want a boost to energy. But you
4:15
can also use promo code spring offensive
4:17
for your order. And that is going to
4:19
donate that same 20% to our latest
4:21
fundraiser with Ukraine aid ops helping
4:23
out Ukraine's unmanned systems forces
4:26
with the ground drones that literally
4:29
save lives. There's the video on the
4:31
fundraiser is of one of the ground
4:33
drones that we have raised saving lives
4:35
on its first mission in a literal actual
4:38
miracle in which a wounded soldier uh
4:41
and the drone get hit by a Russian FPV
4:44
and survive
4:46
uh and are successfully evacuated. We're
4:48
also getting them some gear for their
4:50
heavy lift drones that move food, ammo,
4:52
and supplies to soldiers in position,
4:54
mid-range drones, and some other support
4:55
equipment and power stuff. Uh the first
4:57
Unman System Center and the 421st have
5:00
both pledged patches if you donate $200
5:02
or $400. And of course there's a bunch
5:04
of other rewards. Thanks to all you guys
5:06
that have stepped up in a huge way. Uh
5:08
Mark, Jen, Hinrich, Samuel, Thomas,
5:11
Tori, Eduardo, and more. We really
5:13
appreciate it. The link is in the
5:14
description to the sale, the fundraiser,
5:17
all of it. So Russia would argue uh
5:21
would make this argument. They would say
5:24
that about a week ago, 30th on the 30th
5:26
of May, Russia accused Ukraine of
5:28
deliberately staging a drone attack on
5:30
building six, a building of reactor 6 in
5:32
the Zaporizia nuclear power plant. Now,
5:34
IAEA inspectors just conveniently
5:37
happened to be present on the site and
5:39
they confirmed that there was the
5:41
remains of an unidentified drone and
5:43
damage to a metal hatch and that no
5:45
radiation increase or other damage was
5:46
observed. And you could see here the
5:49
IAA's official statement says that this
5:52
morning the this morning the team
5:54
observed damage to an exterior of a
5:56
turbine building which the plant was hit
5:58
by a drone strike yesterday. It says
6:00
during a sight walk down the team saw
6:02
damage to a metal access hatch located
6:04
several levels up in the building as
6:06
well as a few pieces of debris and
6:07
burned fiber optic coil on the ground.
6:09
The team's observations are consistent
6:11
with an impact of the drone. The IAA
6:13
requested access to the inside of the
6:15
building, noting that it is located
6:16
immediately next to reactor unit 6 for
6:18
further examination. During the
6:19
lockdown, the team was told to shelter
6:21
after hearing the sound of drones nearby
6:23
and gunfire to repel them. The team was
6:25
still able to confirm with their
6:27
measuring equipment that radiation
6:28
levels of the site remain normal.
6:30
Describes yesterday's strike as a
6:32
serious incident endangering key nuclear
6:34
safety principles, attacks on nuclear
6:36
sites unacceptable, and must stop. right
6:38
now.
6:40
Uh the Ukrainians have said, "Guys, this
6:44
is just Russian propaganda." And it's
6:48
absolutely worth noting that it is
6:49
incredibly bizarre
6:51
that as the team was on site, a drone
6:55
attack was repelled by forces on the
6:59
ground. That is pretty convenient
7:01
timing. Like very convenient. And
7:04
Ukraine has said, "Listen, we don't
7:06
strike nuclear power planes." And where
7:08
things get even stranger is right here.
7:11
This is a photo, one of the only photos
7:13
released of the drone debris by the
7:16
Russian forces on the site.
7:19
And I want to point something out that
7:22
this contains uh a
7:25
a brushless motor part, a
7:30
uh propeller, what appears to be maybe
7:33
the storage of a fiber optic cable, but
7:36
it's missing something really important
7:38
right now. Kev says, "Listen, it wasn't
7:42
our drone. It couldn't have been our
7:43
drone." They say, quote, "The UK
7:45
Ukrainian defense forces did not did not
7:48
strike unit number six of the Zaparisia
7:50
nuclear power plant says Ukrainian
7:52
servicemen act exclusively within the
7:53
norms of international humanitarian law
7:55
and are aware of the consequences of any
7:56
actions on nuclear facilities."
8:00
They also said that it was not possible
8:04
uh for a Ukrainian drone to strike this.
8:06
It didn't ma match the technical
8:08
capabilities of Ukrainian drones that
8:10
they operate. Um, we also know that
8:13
Russia has been willing to play games
8:15
with drones, notably hijacking a
8:17
Ukrainian drone headed to Moscow and
8:19
sending it into an oil facility in
8:21
Estonia and then claiming Ukraine did
8:23
it. Uh, this is something even the
8:26
Estonians are like not really possible.
8:29
Um
8:30
but
8:32
and of course Russian propagandist
8:34
Dmitri Medvidev is like there's a new
8:36
Chernobyl if Ukraine destroyed a reactor
8:37
hall or engine room at Zapodia and
8:40
saying Russia could launch asymmetric
8:41
strikes on Ukrainian power plants or
8:43
nuclear or power plants in NATO
8:44
countries. Now, this is funny because
8:46
Russia, you can't claim first off, even
8:50
within the Russian fictional universe,
8:53
uh, where Ukraine is routinely attacking
8:55
Zapia nuclear power plant. If that even
8:58
if that universe were true, Russia says,
9:01
"Well, we're the good guys. We don't do
9:02
that." But guys, Russia just did that.
9:06
And Dimmitri Medvidev, the head of the
9:09
Russian uh joint chiefs of staff, said,
9:12
"We're totally going to do that.
9:15
So, even if your claim was true, you
9:19
have proven yourselves to be at best a
9:20
neutral orbiter. But here's the problem.
9:23
This photo is missing the thing that
9:26
would tell us if it was a Ukrainian
9:28
drone or not. And let me let let me show
9:30
you guys. I actually have it back here.
9:32
So, this
9:35
was gifted to me uh by Ukraine's Cartia
9:38
Brigade actually in the north, not
9:40
terribly far from Chernobyl itself. And
9:44
is this a downed Russian drone? You can
9:46
actually see uh where they took down
9:50
where the drone had gone down. Now, what
9:54
is makes this Russian one, these
9:56
propellers, by the way, are aftermarket.
9:58
I I bought them just so and put them on
10:00
because it it looks better. Um but you
10:02
can kind of see the brushless motors
10:04
here. Uh let's see if we can get it to
10:06
zoom in. There you go. There's your
10:08
brushless motors, right? So, there's
10:10
that. You see it there. And then you can
10:13
see here, right? Same style, but I think
10:15
these are all the same kind of
10:16
Chinese-made stuff. This is the part
10:19
that I want you to understand is most
10:20
significant. The frame, you notice the
10:23
frame, it's aluminum. Well, every single
10:26
Ukrainian drone frame that I've ever
10:28
seen is carbon fiber. Why? Because the
10:30
Ukrainians can buy carbon fiber. It's
10:33
cheaper, stronger, lighter. It gives
10:35
their drones more maneuverability and
10:36
flight time. The because of sanctions,
10:38
the Russians cannot get fiber carbon
10:40
fiber. not at scale. And so they use
10:43
what the Russians have, which is
10:44
aluminum. The Russia Russia has a
10:46
massive aluminum industry. And that
10:48
aluminum industry has been heavily
10:49
sanctioned, which means that you Russian
10:53
drones
10:54
have aluminum frames and Ukrainian
10:58
drones have fiber have carbon fiber
10:59
frames. And so all they would have to do
11:01
is release just a single photograph of
11:06
the drone parts for us to know
11:08
decisively whether or not the drone that
11:10
struck was Ukrainian. And yet
11:15
mysteriously there's actually not only
11:17
is there no parts here, but there
11:19
appears to be just only a tiny few
11:23
unidentifiable drone fragments here.
11:28
And then nothing. Like it wasn't like
11:30
this is the core of the drone. There's
11:33
nothing. There's nothing else anywhere
11:34
in this photograph. It's actually really
11:36
bizarre because Russia has very very
11:41
frequently, in fact, both sides have
11:42
very frequently released photographs of
11:44
down drones to prove who was the
11:47
striker, who was the offender in an in
11:50
an incident.
11:51
And that alone is kind of weird. Also,
11:56
the Russians have routinely staged
11:59
strikes. They've staged these kind of uh
12:03
false flag type of attacks on an
12:05
extremely regular basis.
12:08
And I think that is the deeper strategy
12:10
here. What Russia wants to do is
12:14
maximize confusion and maximize the
12:17
ability to understand. What they want to
12:20
do is create a narrative not in which
12:22
right governments because governments
12:24
have access to intelligence services and
12:26
they're likely going to have actual
12:28
information about this strike but what
12:31
they want to do is create a perception
12:33
among the publics of different countries
12:36
that make them say well I don't know
12:38
who's the bad guy well I don't know
12:40
who's doing the bad thing I can't tell
12:42
that every person they get to throw up
12:45
their hands and say I just hope they all
12:47
settle it
12:49
That is that is the goal. That is the
12:53
strategy. And this is something that is
12:55
used inside of Russia as well where
12:57
opposition parties are often funded by
12:59
the Kremlin in order to create these uh
13:03
perceptions and or lack of perceptions,
13:06
the inability to understand
13:09
what is actually going on.
13:13
Now, that doesn't mean though that there
13:16
aren't real bad guys, okay? That Russia,
13:19
again, unable to match Ukraine's middle
13:22
strike capability. What you end up with
13:24
instead is that Russia is embarking on a
13:28
different strategy, the so-called human
13:30
safari. And I heard about this in Heran
13:33
when I was in Ukraine in December. Uh,
13:35
it's one of the reasons I couldn't go to
13:37
Heran because it is a literal human
13:39
safari. 11,000 Russian FPV attacks have
13:42
targeted civilians, including double
13:44
strikes on sites after medics and
13:45
firefighters arrive. Russia released
13:49
drone footage of them striking a UN
13:51
vehicle. Russia has also struck an IAEA
13:55
vehicle that was inside Ukrainian
13:57
territory.
14:00
And these strikes target again civilians
14:04
driving around hospitals, residential
14:07
areas, including double strikes where
14:09
they wound a wound or kill a Ukrainian
14:12
civilian and then when medics arrive,
14:14
they are struck as well.
14:17
This is something that has been
14:19
extensively documented not just by the
14:21
Ukrainians, but by the UN. Uh it's
14:23
something that even uh
14:27
high-profile visitors to Ukraine like
14:29
Angelina Jolie or um uh uh Howard
14:34
Buffett have gone and been like, "Yo, I
14:37
can't I'm not allowed to go in Hersan
14:39
without body armor because of this
14:41
massive systematic risk." And this is a
14:45
sign of desperation by the Russians. But
14:47
this is part of the Russian strategy.
14:49
And again, they're going to claim that
14:53
the
14:56
uh of the that somehow those 41 children
15:02
that were wounded in these strikes are
15:04
somehow uh were somehow secretly
15:07
Ukrainian service members, that they
15:08
were somehow secretly the Ukrainian
15:10
military.
15:12
And
15:14
this is again, I think part of the
15:17
Russian strategy, terrorize the
15:18
Ukrainians and then create confusion in
15:21
the public to be unable to discern who
15:23
are the real war criminals here, who's
15:25
committing a war crime, what is a war
15:26
crime, right? That unable to say,
15:29
listen, yeah, even the term energy
15:31
infrastructure is deliberately
15:34
constructed to favor Russia. Why?
15:36
Because government-owned oil facilities
15:39
that fund the Russian war machine are
15:41
seen as indistinguishable
15:43
from Ukrainian civilian power generation
15:46
plants.
15:48
And again, hitting a steam plant that
15:51
provides heat to a city, a city of
15:54
civilians
15:56
is seen as kind of sort of the same as
15:58
targeting again a government, a Russian
16:00
governmentrun oil terminal. These
16:03
distinctions are meaningful because the
16:05
law of war says one is okay and one is
16:08
not. And the Russians whole goal is to
16:12
create the maximum amount of confusion
16:14
and the maximum amount of obfiscation.
16:17
It's one of the reasons why Russia funds
16:21
not just far-right influencers, right?
16:24
They fund a wide array of controversial
16:28
figures. Jill Stein in the Green Party,
16:31
for example, in the United States is
16:33
deeply linked to the Russian government.
16:36
And it's because this is the strategy.
16:38
The strategy is to take is to make sure
16:40
that nothing can be known, that right
16:43
and wrong, uh, good and evil, uh,
16:47
following the rules and breaking the
16:48
rules are are completely
16:51
indistinguishable for the public, and
16:53
that the public gives up trying to even
16:55
understand what is going on. But as
16:59
Zillinsky said in his letter, it hasn't
17:01
worked. Russian tricks PE a lot of the
17:04
public now thanks to social media in
17:06
part a lot of the public actually is
17:08
more questioning and doesn't trust their
17:12
their distrust of conventional
17:14
narratives is in some ways bad, but in
17:17
some ways it's beneficial. It makes it
17:20
harder to trick people and Russia's
17:23
finding that out the hard way. So thanks
17:25
to Charles Shield, Brent, Andreas, Jim,
17:27
John, CPC, Leonus, Gabriel, as well as
17:29
all the lieutenant here folks. We really
17:30
could not do it without you guys. We
17:31
appreciate you, and we'll see you in the
17:32
next one.