Author: Common Dreams

While peace talks and humanitarian aid for civilians remain top global priorities amid Russia’s ongoing assault of Ukraine, a United Nations report released on March 16 estimates that over $100 billion in damage has already been done to the country’s battered infrastructure. As more than three million Ukrainians have fled and the death toll and war crimes allegations against Russia have mounted, the invading forces have severely damaged infrastructure across Ukraine, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). “Early UNDP projections suggest that already in the short- to medium-term, the development setbacks for Ukraine will be significant,” the...

As Russia intensifies its war on Ukraine, agricultural output from one of the world’s most productive growing regions has ground to a halt, causing the price of key food staples and fertilizer to approach record levels and sparking fears of worsening global hunger. “The escalation of the conflict is now putting markets into serious turmoil,” the Agricultural Market Information System said Monday in a report. “Any serious disruption of production and exports from these suppliers will no doubt drive up prices further and erode food security for millions of people.” David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program...

Russian forces reportedly seized control of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant on March 3 shortly after a triggering a fire at the facility, intensifying global fears of a massive and unprecedented radioactive disaster. The fire, which Ukrainian officials said was sparked by Russian shelling, was extinguished on March 3, but concerns remained about the potential for a leak of radioactive material if operators at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant are unable to safely cool power units at the site. During a press conference on March 3, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the blaze started after...

President Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear deterrence forces into high alert on February 27, 2022. Only five days earlier, on February 22, Trump called Putin “savvy” and his flagrant violation of international law “genius.” “You gotta say, that’s pretty savvy,” Trump said the day after Putin illegally declared two regions of Ukraine to be independent countries and thereby created a false pretext for an imminent and unprovoked invasion. “This is genius,” Trump added. “Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine … Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.” At a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser the following evening, he...