Ukraine Says Russia Considering Nuclear Plant ‘Terror’ Attack, Moscow Denies It

A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)
A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Says Russia Considering Nuclear Plant ‘Terror’ Attack, Moscow Denies It

A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)
A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukrainian spies had received information showing Russia was considering carrying out a "terrorist" attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant involving a release of radiation. 

The Kremlin dismissed the allegation as "another lie" and said a team of UN nuclear inspectors had visited the plant and rated everything highly. 

In a video statement on the Telegram messenger, Zelenskiy said Kyiv was sharing the information about the Russian-occupied facility in southern Ukraine with all its international partners from Europe and the United States to China and India. 

"Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - a terrorist act with the release of radiation," he said. "They have prepared everything for this." 

Zelenskiy did not say what evidence the intelligence agencies based their assertion on. 

The six-reactor complex, Europe's biggest nuclear plant, has been under occupation since shortly after Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine in February last year. 

The two sides have accused each other of shelling the vast complex, and international efforts to establish a demilitarized zone around it have failed so far. 

"Unfortunately, I have had to remind (people) more than once that radiation knows no state borders. And who it will hit is determined only by the direction of the wind..." Zelenskiy said. 

Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, suffered the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986, when clouds of radioactive material spread across much of Europe after an explosion and fire at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. 

Zelenskiy made his statement two days after Ukraine's military intelligence chief accused Russia of "mining" the cooling pond that is used to keep the reactors cool at the Zaporizhzhia plant. 

Russian forces have occupied swathes of Ukraine's south and east, and Moscow has unilaterally declared them a part of Russia. Moscow plans to conduct elections on the occupied territory there this September. 



Canada’s Liberals Win Minority Government; Carney Says Old Relationship with US ‘Is Over’ 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Canada’s Liberals Win Minority Government; Carney Says Old Relationship with US ‘Is Over’ 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals retained power in the country's election on Monday, but fell short of the majority government he had wanted to help him negotiate tariffs with US President Donald Trump.

The Liberals were leading or elected in 167 electoral districts, known as seats, followed by the Conservatives with 145, with votes still being counted.

The Liberals had needed to win 172 of the House of Commons' 343 seats for a majority that would allow them to govern without support from a smaller party.

"Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over," Carney said in a victory speech in Ottawa.

"The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity for our country for decades, is over," he added. "These are tragedies, but it's also our new reality."

Carney said the coming months would be challenging and require sacrifices.

Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, a polling firm, told Reuters the Liberal win hinged on three factors.

"It was the 'anybody-but-Conservative' factor, it was the Trump tariff factor, and then it was the Trudeau departure ... which enabled a lot of left-of-center voters and traditional Liberal voters to come back to the party," Kurl said, referring to the resignation of unpopular former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Carney had promised a tough approach with Washington over its import tariffs and said Canada would need to spend billions to reduce its reliance on the US. But the right-of-center Conservatives, who called for change after more than nine years of Liberal rule, showed unexpected strength.

Minority governments in Canada rarely last longer than 2-1/2 years.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre conceded defeat to Carney's Liberals and said his party would hold the government to account.

The result capped a notable comeback for the Liberals, who had been 20 percentage points behind in the polls in January before Trudeau announced he was quitting and Trump started threatening tariffs and annexation.

"America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country," Carney said. "These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never ever happen."

WAVE OF PATRIOTISM

Trump's threats ignited a wave of patriotism that swelled support for Carney, a political newcomer who previously led two G7 central banks.

Trump re-emerged as a campaign factor last week, declaring that he might raise a 25% tariff on Canadian-made cars because the US does not want them. He said earlier he might use "economic force" to make Canada the 51st state.

Carney has emphasized that his experience handling economic issues makes him the best leader to deal with Trump, while Poilievre tapped into concerns about the cost of living, crime and a housing crisis.

Trump, in a social media post on Monday, reiterated his call for Canada to become the 51st state.

"Good luck to the Great people of Canada," he said. "Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago."

Tensions with the US have caused supporters of two smaller parties, the left-leaning New Democratic Party and the separatist Bloc Quebecois, to shift to the Liberals. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh conceded defeat in his own district and said he planned to quit as party leader.

The Conservatives appeared on track to make gains in the seat-rich Toronto area to prevent a Liberal majority government, but Poilievre was trailing in his own Ottawa-area district, with votes still being counted.

"We didn't quite get over the finish line yet," Poilievre told his supporters in Ottawa. "We know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time."

The Liberals are the last party to win four consecutive elections in Canada, accomplishing the feat in 2004.

Poilievre focused his campaign on domestic issues and the need to fix a country that he said the Liberals had "broken."