Jim Sciutto | CNN
The United Kingdom has delivered multiple “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles to Ukraine, giving the nation a new long-range strike capability in advance of a highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, multiple senior Western officials told CNN. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, calling the donation Ukraine’s “best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality,” confirmed the transaction on Thursday after CNN exclusively reported the deal.
Ukraine’s Occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Faces Possible Staffing Crunch
SUSIE BLANN and YURAS KARMANAU | Associated Press
Russia intends to relocate around 3,100 Ukrainian staff from Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Ukraine’s atomic energy company claimed Wednesday, warning of a potential “catastrophic lack of qualified personnel” at the Zaporizhzhia facility in Russia-occupied southern Ukraine. Workers who signed employment contracts with various affiliates of Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom following Moscow’s capture of the Zaporizhzhia plant early in the war are the bulk of those set to be taken to Russia along with their families, Energoatom said in a Telegram post.
The West Needs Russia to Power Its Nuclear Comeback
Jennifer Hiller, Daniel Michaels, and Kim Mackrael | The Wall Street Journal
Nuclear power in the West is having a long-awaited revival, with new reactors opening in the U.S. and Europe and fresh momentum toward building more soon. A gaping hole in the plan: The West doesn’t have enough nuclear fuel—and lacks the capacity to swiftly ramp up production. Even more vexing, the biggest source of critical ingredients is Russia and its state monopoly, Rosatom, which is implicated in supporting the war in Ukraine.
Ask the Experts: How Should the U.S. Address Nuclear Dangers?
Toby Dalton, Edited by Sharon Weiner | Carnegie Corporation of New York
The Korean Peninsula is the most dangerous nuclear flashpoint today. It is time for the United States and its Asian allies to embrace a new policy toward North Korea focused on immediately reducing the threat of nuclear conflict. Pyongyang’s arsenal buildup and nuclear threats are exacerbating crisis escalation dangers and driving discussion in South Korea about developing nuclear weapons. Rather than insisting on the unrealistic denuclearization of North Korea, the United States, South Korea, and Japan should launch a new risk reduction initiative that incentivizes restraint, mitigates escalation dangers, and lowers North Korea’s propensity to threaten nuclear use.
North Korea Warns Japan Not to Join S.Korea-US Nuclear Consulting Group
Reuters
North Korea's foreign ministry has warned Japan not join the newly announced Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) between South Korea and the U.S. and said doing so would make the Northeast Asian region unstable. The group, announced during South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the U.S. last month, will see the U.S. give Seoul more insight and say in its nuclear planning over any conflict with North Korea.
South Korea Will be Vulnerable to North’s Drones for Years, Leak Warns
Alex Horton, Min Joo Kim and Michelle Ye Hee Lee | The Washington Post
An incursion of South Korean airspace by North Korean drones exposed Seoul’s lack of preparedness in defending against such threats, and it will likely take years for the military to correct its shortcomings, according to a classified U.S. intelligence assessment of the December incident.The findings, outlined in a leak of U.S. secrets circulated on the Discord messaging platform and obtained by The Washington Post, spotlight the vulnerable state of South Korea’s air defense as its volatile neighbor’s aggressive development of a nuclear arsenal has Seoul and Washington on edge.