Russia has vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. The vote Wednesday in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, but she said Russia's veto raises the question of what the Russian government may be hiding.
Russia and Ukraine are trading fresh accusations over renewed threats to Europe's largest nuclear plant that has been caught up in the war. Moscow alleges Ukraine was behind drone attacks on the facility that were witnessed by U.N. inspectors. Kyiv, meanwhile, accuses Russia of disinformation tactics. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday called the drone attacks on the plant, in Russia-occupied southern Ukraine, "a very dangerous provocation." The U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency on Sunday confirmed drone strikes on one of the plant's six reactors, but did not attribute responsibility to either side. An official at Energoatom, Ukraine's atomic energy company, blamed Russia for the attacks, saying they were "a provocation" orchestrated to malign Ukraine.
Russia unleashed one of its most devastating attacks against Ukraine's electric sector, an aerial assault it said was retaliation for recent strikes inside Russia. It could signal an escalation of the war just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a preordained election. Many Ukrainians were plunged into darkness across several cities on Friday. At least five people were killed, and damage to the country's largest hydroelectric plant briefly cut off power to a nuclear plant that has been a safety risk throughout the war. Ukrainian officials said it was the most brutal attack against its energy infrastructure since the full-scale war began in early 2022.
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran is "not entirely transparent" regarding its atomic program. That's after an official who once led Tehran's program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon "in our hands." Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that "there's loose talk about nuclear weapons more and more, including in Iran recently." Iran has been enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. The wider Mideast is now on edge because of Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country has successfully tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile and declared that lawmakers could revoke its ratification of a global nuclear test ban. Little is known about the new Burevestnik missile, and many Western experts have been skeptical about it. It is believed to be able to carry either a nuclear warhead or a conventional one. In a foreign policy speech, Putin noted the U.S. has signed but not ratified the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, while Russia has signed and ratified it. He argued Russia could mirror the U.S. stance but said he hasn't formed an opinion on the need to conduct nuclear tests.
The U.S. will spend more than $750 billion over the next decade to overhaul nearly every part of its nuclear defenses and replace systems that in some cases are more than 50 years old. But until each of those programs is ready, it's up to young military troops and government technicians across the U.S. to care for the existing bombs, often through delicate maintenance performed by hand. The Associated Press was granted rare access inside military nuclear missile bases and government weapons facilities to report on how they are adjusting to meet the increasing workload. There are many missile silos across the Midwest region states.
