Last week (August 8–14), Russia continued nuclear blackmail of Ukraine and the world in order to influence the international community and force our state to agree to russia's "peace plan" – the surrender of Ukraine and consent to the annexation of the occupied territories. 

The practical dimension of the russian strategy is that the russian troops are shelling the Zaporizhzhya NPP and the city of Energodar, accusing the Armed Forces of doing so. 

However, this strategy does not work. An anti-russian coalition is being built in the world, which includes at least 42 countries. They urged russia to withdraw their military from the Zaporizhzhya NPP, stressing that their stay there poses threats to its safe operation.

In parallel with nuclear blackmail, russia continues to prepare pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories in order to annex them. Although the results of the "vote" will be null and void, these plans need to be immediately counteracted.

Ukraine has already taken the first step – Volodymyr Zelensky informed russia about the impossibility of negotiations in the event of "referendums" in the occupied territories of Ukraine. But we can't stop here. 

In addition, several EU countries have prepared an unpleasant surprise for russian tourists. They propose to stop issuing tourist visas to russian citizens at the pan-European level – there is nothing for them to do and walk around the EU countries when your country is waging a brutal invasive war.

russia continues nuclear blackmail, and Ukraine and 42 other states call on russians to withdraw their troops from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

It is obvious that when the Armed Forces of Ukraine keep driving the russian troops to a dead end, there is nothing left for russia but nuclear blackmail. The goal is to force Ukraine to abandon its plans to liberate the occupied territories, which russia wants to retain and annex. 

russia has been shelling the Zaporizhzhya NPP captured back in early March and the city of Energodar, where it is located, several times a day. russian officials accuse of the shelling the Armed Forces of Ukraine and try to convince the world about it, which supposedly should "pressure Ukraine".

Thus, after another shelling at the Zaporizhzhya NPP by the russians, the spokeswoman of the russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, maria zakharova, called on international institutions, in particular on the IAEA, to inspect the power plant. However, she only forgets that it was the russian troops who captured the NPP, took its personnel hostage and do not provide enough information about the state of the nuclear power plant to the IAEA.

By the way, the latter said that the plant violated all the principles of nuclear safety, and organization's representatives were ready to visit the NPP during the last two months but were not able to do so. 

Also, the narrative about the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP by Ukrainian troops was repeated by putin's spokesman, dmytro peskov.

"The shelling of the NPP territory by the Ukrainian armed forces is potentially an extremely dangerous activity, which can lead to an increase in catastrophic consequences for a huge territory, including the territory of Europe," said the russian politician. 

Furthermore, russia has had the audacity to convene a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, for August, 11, on the situation in the West Atlantic Treaty Organization.

There, the representative of the russian federation, sasiliy niebienzya, declared about the "criminal attacks by Kyiv on nuclear infrastructure facilities". He also rejected the proposals of UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the vicinity of Europe's largest nuclear power plant and for the creation of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia NPP. 

According to Niebienzia, the withdrawal of troops will make the facility "vulnerable to provocations and terrorist attacks". This way, he must have hinted that if the russians leave the station they will continue shelling it in any case. Terrorists are terrorists, what would you expect of them. 

At the same time, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Serhii Kyslytsia, speaking at the Security Council, said that the only way to eliminate the nuclear threat at the Zaporizhzhya NPP is to withdraw russian troops and resume Ukraine's control over the station. 

"russia resorts to dangerous provocations at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, placing military equipment there that russians are using to shell Ukrainian cities along the bank of the Dnieper River," said Kyslytsia. 

Ukraine's position was supported by 42 countries. They called on russia to withdraw their military from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and stressed that their stay there posed threats to its safe operation.

According to the European Truth, this was mentioned in a statement published on the website of the EU delegation to international organizations in Vienna. All EU members and the European Union as a separate signatory, Norway, the United Kingdom, Iceland, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, and Turkey joined the statement.

Last week, russian nuclear blackmail was commented several times by Volodymyr Zelensky. The President of Ukraine believes that words cannot stop russia, so the world must act in response .

"russia will not pay attention to words and raised concerns. New sanctions are needed against the terrorist state and the entire russian nuclear industry for creating the threat of a nuclear disaster. The world should not forget about Chernobyl and remember that Zaporizhzhya facility is the largest nuclear power power in Europe. The Chernobyl disaster was about an explosion in one reactor. Zaporizhzhya NPP includes six power units,” the President said.

In another address, Zelensky noted that the russian strategy of nuclear blackmail does not work because it mobilizes even more global efforts to confront terror. However, the Office of the President believes that the best answer to russia's blackmail should be the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories. 

This opinion is hard to object.

Ukraine warns the russian federation against holding pseudo-referendums, and russia, as usually, pretends that they have nothing to do with it

At the end of July, after statements by the head of the Foreign Ministry of russia, sergey lavrov, about the expansion of the "geographical tasks of the special operation," the aggressor country began the process of organizing "pseudo-referendums" in the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Herson regions. 

A few days after that, the occupying administrations almost synchronously announced the creation of "commissions" to organize a "referendum" about joining russia. Its date is not yet known but the representatives of the occupation authorities have announced that they plan to hold this performance event in the autumn.

Why would russia need the "referendums"? It is all rather  simple – to create the illusion of "adjoining" the invaded lands to the rf.

It is clear that the civilized world will not recognize the results of the so-called "vote" but the occupiers could not care less. They are not interested in any truth or genuine will of Ukrainians from the occupied territories.

The aggressor country's goal is to create, albeit fake, "legal grounds" to take control of these territories and further demand that the world recognize the annexation or just come to terms with it, possibly by resorting to nuclear blackmail. 

The results of the "vote" will be null and void but they will significantly affect the situation in Ukraine and beyond: in military, humanitarian, and political terms.

russian plans should be immediately counteracted, therefore Civil Network OPORA has made recommendations for Ukraine and other countries on what this counteraction could be. 

The top political leaders of Ukraine are well aware of the seriousness of the situation. Thus, on August, 7, Volodymyr Zelensky put forward an ultimatum and emphasized that in the event of a "referendum" in the temporarily occupied territories, russia would close all opportunities for negotiations.

russia did not make us wait for the answer. Their true essence is highly predictable – russia seems to have nothing to do with the organization of "referendums" in the occupied territories. According to the kremlin spokesman, dmitry peskov, "voting" is organized by local residents, and russia, he said, has nothing to do with it:

"The fact is that the residents of the region have these plans. It's not us who are holding a referendum. Here, we need to understand who Zelensky speaks to in this statement – either to the citizens of Ukraine in the mentioned areas, or to the citizens of russia. If he addresses citizens and the leaders of russia, in that case we are the wrong addressees."

Doesn't it ring the bell? Of course, the Crimea. The annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 was also accompanied by public statements about "we are not present there" and "it's not us".

It is also worth mentioning the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, where in 2014, russia organized a vote in support of the "state independence" of quasi-national republics.

If we dig even deeper, we can recall the 2006, when the russian federation organized fake referendums in the russian-controlled "Transnistrian Moldavian Republic" and the "Republic of South Ossetia".

As you can see, the organization of fake "referendums" is a typical russian model of behavior when the rf wants to either seize new territories or weaken the sovereignty of neighboring countries so that they cannot escape from the russian zone of influence and choose an independent path of development. 

Ukraine supports visa restrictions for russians, and the swamps are "burning" 

Last week, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, and Poland proposed to stop issuing tourist visas to russian citizens at the pan-European level. These countries border with russia. That is why, with no air flights available, they carry the greatest burden of the influx of russian tourists – one can cross the borders of these countries with a visa of any Schengen zone country. 

"It is wrong that at a time when russia is waging a violent and aggressive war in Europe, russians can live a normal life, travel across Europe, and be tourists. – It is wrong," – the prime minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, believes.

Estonia went a little further. On August, 11, the country's government announced that after a week, it would not allow russians with Schengen visas issued by Estonia, with a few exceptions.

"In a  week's time, a sanction will apply to Schengen visas issued by the Republic of Estonia. The sanction means that the visas will remain valid. However, visa holders will be sanctioned when entering Estonia, meaning they will be banned from entering Estonia,” commented Estonian Foreign Minister, Urmas Rheinsalu, the head of the Estonian government.

At the same time, Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, emphasized that visiting Europe is a privilege rather than a human right.

This initiative was supported by the Czech Republic, which now holds the presidency in the EU Council. On August, 12, Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavski, proposed to include a ban on issuing visas to russian citizens in a new package of sanctions against Moscow. Lipavski's statement shared to EU member states, according to Ukrainska Pravda, states that the Czech Republic will bring the discussion of this issue to an informal meeting in Prague at the end of August.

"At a time of russian aggression, when the kremlin continues to escalate, it is impossible to talk about ordinary tourism for russian citizens," Lipavsky stressed.

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, responded to the initiative of European partners. He called on the EU to introduce visa restrictions for russian citizens, and considers it fair. According to Zelensky, it is important that russian assassins and state terror minions do not use the "Schengen".

"After everything the occupiers have done in Ukraine, there can only be one way to treat russia – as a terrorist state. This perspective must guide the decisions on how to treat the citizens of russia. I thank the Czech Republic, the Baltic States, and other countries that have brought to the official discussions level in Europe the issue of visas for citizens of a terrorist state," the president said in one of his evening addresses.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Dmytro Kuleba, Head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supported his position: 

"I call on all EU countries and the G7 to stop issuing visas to russians. President Zelensky is absolutely right to insist on this. The russians mostly support the war against Ukraine. They should be deprived of the right to cross international borders until they learn to respect them,” the minister tweeted.

In addition, Dmytro Kuleba advised russians who are upset by the prospect of banning tourist trips to Europe to complain to the kremlin and thank their fellow countrymen who support the war. The minister wrote about it on Twitter, reports "The European Truth".

In russia, they reacted sharply to the ban on issuing tourist visas.

For example, a member of the negotiating group of russia, Member of the State Duma, leonid slutsky, instead of urging russians to behave adequately and in a civilized manner in Europe, went for a proven way – he accused Estonian Prime Minister, Kai Kallas, and Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, of russophobia and Nazism.

All this is pursuing one and the same goal: that russians who will not be able to travel through Europe should be angry not with the russian authorities who unleashed a war against Ukraine but with... Europeans who do not want to host people who mostly support the actions of their terrorist country.

A similar statement was made by the spokeswoman of the russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, maria zakharova, noting that neo-fascism is building in the Baltic States, and the consequences can be anticipated based on the example of Ukraine. However, the purpose of this statement is somewhat different – to frighten the Baltic countries, with their tough position on russian aggression, that they could be the next.

In Tallinn, Vilnius, and Riga it is well understood but they do not plan to retreat.

Therefore, if russia does not stop, the pressure will grow – and not only from the Baltic countries. 

Specially for Ukrainska Pravda