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Russia Preparing 'Man-Made Catastrophe' at Crimean Titan Plant: Ukraine
BY ISABEL VAN BRUGEN ON 6/12/23 AT 9:26 AM EDT
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Russia's 'Smoking Gun' on Ukraine Dam Collapse

Russia is preparing a "man-made catastrophe" at the Titan chemical plant
in annexed Crimea, Kyiv's military intelligence agency, GUR, said on Monday.

Russian forces are mining the workshops of the plant, located in
Armyansk in the northern part of the Black Sea peninsula that Russian
President Vladimir Putin annexed from Ukraine in 2014, according to the
GUR. Ukraine has vowed to recapture Crimea in a counteroffensive.

"In the temporarily occupied Armyansk in the north of the Crimean
peninsula, the Russians are preparing for the evacuation of both
representatives of the occupation administration and the local
population," it said.

The GUR said that as a result of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka
last week, and the subsequent lack of water in the North Crimean Canal,
manufacturing processes at the Crimean Titan plant in Armyansk "have
been disrupted to a critical level."

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Young masked supporters of Ukraine in Crimea
Young masked supporters attend a rally in support of keeping Crimea a
part of Ukraine on March 11, 2014, in Simferopol, Ukraine. Russian
President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the damage to the critical
Soviet-era dam in southern Ukraine on the Dnieper River. It was breached
in the early hours of June 6, unleashing water on swaths of territory as
a counteroffensive from Kyiv kicked off.

The North Crimean Canal, which has traditionally delivered 85 percent of
the water to Crimea, takes water from the now-destroyed Nova Kakhovka
reservoir. Most of the water from the North Crimean Canal is used for
farming or industry, but about a fifth is used for drinking water,
meeting most of the peninsula's needs.

"The Russians consider it impossible to resume operations at a minimally
acceptable level. There are reports circulating within the temporarily
occupied territory of Armyansk about the potential shutdown of the
Crimean Titan facility," the GUR said.

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"Simultaneously, over the past few days, the engineering units of the
occupying army have been placing mines within the workshops of the
operational enterprise while also planting explosives in both the
factory and the surrounding area."

The intelligence agency added: "The terrorist attack on the Crimean
Titan enterprise, for which the Russian invaders are preparing, will
mean an artificial man-made catastrophe, terrible in its consequences."

The plant's refrigerating equipment uses some 200 tons of ammonia, it
said. Inhaling the substance can cause a burning sensation in the eyes,
nose, and throat, and coughing. The GUR said that if there is an
explosion at the plant, an ammonia cloud could cover the surrounding
areas in half an hour.

Armyansk, Crimea's Krasnoperekopsk district, and the southern districts
of Ukraine's Kherson region will be under threat, the GUR added.

In August 2018, more than 4,000 people were evacuated from a polluted
area in Armyansk after chemical substances were released from the plant,
causing metals to rust, fields to change color, and residents to suffer
symptoms including headaches, nausea, coughs, chemical burns, and eye
and throat irritations.

The Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said at the time
that the concentration of sulfurous anhydride in the air had exceeded
acceptable levels. At the time of the leak, the plant produced titanium
dioxide pigment, sulfuric acid, iron vitriol, liquid sodium glass,
aluminum sulfate and mineral fertilizers, Vocal Europe reported.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be
covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us
know via worldnews@newsweek.com.

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Patrick Tang
1 day ago

Yet more open kimono as to what authoritarian regimes are capable of.
Anymore pretending they are human and looking the other way and
suggesting the West can deal with them 'normal'.

Don't gang up to stop them now, in somebody else's backyard and fight
with somebody else's children., one day you ...

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Patrick Tang
1 day ago

It's really 15th century barbarians living in the 21st century. Do YOU
really want to have your national security depending on one of these
guys? Non? Then better stop sending them your IP. Or depend on them
on critical supplies. Doing anything otherwise is simply letting you of
your national ...

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David Shoup
12 hours ago

Not the US gov't? That since 1945 has bombed 28 countries, fought
several illegal and unjust wars, instigated dozens of coups, supports
dictators( Equatorial Guinea) who find Kuwait level of wealth and keep
it all who torture and kill their own people, leave kids without clean
drinking water and st...

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bluecollarbytes
1 day ago

swine of humanity. It's one of many reasons I support American military
and civilian aid to sovereign Ukraine. Most who whine about 'their
dollars' going to Ukraine likely haven't really contributed one penny
tax-wise.

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On 13/06/2023 17:23, a425couple wrote:
> from

> Russia's 'Smoking Gun' on Ukraine Dam Collapse
>
> Russia is preparing a "man-made catastrophe" at the Titan chemical plant
> in annexed Crimea, Kyiv's military intelligence agency, GUR, said on
> Monday.
>
> Russian forces are mining the workshops of the plant, located in
> Armyansk in the northern part of the Black Sea peninsula that Russian
> President Vladimir Putin annexed from Ukraine in 2014, according to the
> GUR. Ukraine has vowed to recapture Crimea in a counteroffensive.
>

Another spectacular own goal from Putin. not only has he forced many
Russians and Ukrainians from their homes and faems but by blowing the
dam has reduced the freshwater supply for the Crimeans and Russians by
80% at the start of the hottest period of the year.