Reference Message Network reported on June 11 that according to a report by the RIA Novosti website on June 10, despite Ukraine's continued resistance at the frontlines even after mobilizing its reserve forces, preliminary signs of an all-encompassing systemic crisis have begun to emerge in the rear, and in the most dangerous form.
According to sources from Ukraine, a statement from the management of the Eastern Mining-Processing Combine (referred to as "East Mine") appealed to the Kiev authorities to pay attention to the impending ecological disaster. The statement pointed out that the ventilation and drainage equipment of the "Gulisk" and "Smolinski" mines have been shut down for some time, causing the lower-level mines to either be completely flooded or in an irreversible water accumulation process.
It was reported that this largest professional mining enterprise in Ukraine once met about 40% of the fuel uranium needs of the country's nuclear power plants, but due to unpaid electricity bills, it has been ordered to cut power by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy. "East Mine" does not even expect to solve the problem through normal procedures, frankly stating that there is no money in the account. The enterprise management requested the relevant departments of Ukraine and the Minister of Energy to restore power to the mine, otherwise, the ecological disaster in the Yellow Water area and Kirovograd Oblast will face an unpredictable scale.
The verifiable latest operational data of "East Mine" dates back to December 2021, two months before the start of the special military operation. At that time, employees of the enterprise went on strike for a month to demand overdue wages. Not only miners participated in the strike, but also employees from enterprises producing mining equipment, beneficiation equipment, radiation monitors, and process monitoring instruments. Sulfuric acid production fell to 50,000 tons per month. In fact, the enterprise had already come to a standstill. However, with the onset of large-scale military operations, Kiev paid no attention to those mines containing radioactive minerals. In April this year, Zelenskyy revealed in an interview that the entire budget of Ukraine was used for the war, and all national expenditures on social and other aspects were fully dependent on external aid.
Reports indicated that in fact, the situation is not optimistic. First, the troops of the 90th Tank Division of Russia's "Central" Cluster arrived at the western border of the "Donetsk People's Republic" and have entered the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Therefore, the potential ecological problems caused by Kiev must be solved by Russia. Secondly, this rather thorny situation may bring long-term serious consequences. As the mine water flows into the clarifying pools, radioactive nuclides will penetrate through the rock layers, enter the aquifers, underground flat ore bodies, and then into surface water sources, gradually accumulating in the tissues of plants, animals, and humans. It should be noted that this long-term pollution has a cumulative effect, posing a threat to human health in the medium term, leading to increased male infertility, vision impairment, leukemia, and other malignant tumors.
The Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where uranium mining capacity is located, is one of the three regions with the highest cancer incidence rates in Ukraine. It is not difficult to see that the number of major diseases is closely related to the existence of large industrial enterprises, especially the mining and processing industrial clusters.
Russian media stated fairly that, given the current level of technological development, the problem of groundwater and water source contamination by radioactive nuclides can be completely solved. Modern industrial water treatment stations can filter out about 95% of known pollutants. Of course, such purification facilities are expensive, and Zelenskyy does not have a gold reserve. All money has been spent on the war, so what about groundwater purification when it has already been seriously contaminated? (Compiled/He Yingjun)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7514611535260566043/
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