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The situation in Mariupol took an extremely dark turn today sadly. Russia's Ministry of Defense has called on the Ukrainians in Mariupol to surrender by 10 PM EST or 5 AM Mariupol. Now one could point at the sheer absurdity of this from a variety of angels one of the biggest being the Russians did not say what would happen to those that surrendered. It is not like they were given a guarantee that nothing would happen to them rather Russia just told them to surrender and honestly deal with whatever consequences Russia decided for them.
Both Kyiv and the City Council have shot down this idea and instead sent letters to the really everyone including the UN asking instead for corridors for civilians to be able to evacuate. Thus far Russia has not responded to this request and I doubt they will. It has also come to light how in the Russian-controlled areas around this city they are forcing people at gunpoint into Russia. No Ukrainian wants to flee to Russia and that is why you have seen millions flee West and not East. It appears that Russia has either taken offense to this or is hoping to use these people are a bargaining chip for negotiations with what they are doing. It isn't even just a few people either as 7,000 civilians have been reported to have been forced to Russia.
Chernobyl is a sheer sign of what can go wrong on a nuclear level. When the invasion took place and Russian tanks and other military vehicles began to roll into Chernobyl fears were quickly kicked up due to the fact the military was kicking up radioactive dust. When the power was cut due to Russia shelling the area destroying the power supply to the plant and its cooling system the world was concerned. Ukraine turned over everything that they had left for the are to the UN and the IAEA to keep track of the plant. However, more and more monitoring sensors went offline and the Ukrainian personnel was held at gunpoint to keep everything as functional as they could.
The site was in the hand of 46 personnel who typically work in a rotating shift like a normal 24-hour operation is run. These individuals thought this one shift was the only one allowed there as Russia did not let in anyone and did not let those that were there out. Finally, Russia agreed to let some of the staff leave. In a true act of selflessness, all 46 members that had been held there were allowed to leave because 46 others chose to trade places with them. Families that had been separated were reunited again at the cost though of those that were together one of the adults having to make the choice to level and go into a Russian-held area and work at gunpoint.
This is what makes this conflict so dangerous and so much different than previous large wars we have seen in the Middle East. Running nuclear reactors are in play here and the site of the worst meltdown in history is under control again of the very government that caused the meltdown in the first place.
Turkey and Isreal
If you were to tell me who the peace dealers were going to be I would not have seen these two countries end up really tag-teaming the process. However, from an economic and demographic standpoint, it does make a ton of sense as both of these countries are extremely strong and have deep ties to both sides. Neither of these countries stands to benefit from what is going on as Isreal is going to get a ton of Jewish refugees and Turkey is a NATO member that is heavily involved with Russia. Over the last few days, these two countries have really stepped up and publically and privately made moves to negotiate peace WITH Ukrianes independence acknowledged. That is huge because it under scores that both of these countries are not willing to let Putin get away with this and will force him to return the lands he is currently occupying.
