The Russian troops had expected their “special operation” to be brief. Soldiers had brought scant supplies: one admitted that he’d packed only a single uniform, because he thought he was on a training exercise. Some asked Semenov where they could buy cigarettes. “They said, ‘Why are there no shops near here?’ I said, ‘This is a restricted zone!’ They didn’t understand where they were.”
Great read about Chernobyl under Russian occupation during the recent invasion. Where senior staff had to keep up quite a balancing act in order to save lives and avoid disaster.
I just got round to reading this exhaustive investigation of the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage. It's quite a story and also a political powder keg.
Behind the scenes, though, you get clearer statements. Investigators from the BKA, the Federal Police and the Office of the Federal Prosecutor have few remaining doubts that a Ukrainian commando was responsible for blowing up the pipelines. A striking number of clues point to Ukraine, they say.
