Russia 110314 Basic Political Developments

No radiation from Japan detected in Russia

Published: 14 March, 2011, 10:33

Russian Emergency Ministry confirms that radiation levels in the Russia’s Far East remain normal, but the ongoing change in the weather might turn the situation to the worse.

­Emergency services has intensified radiological monitoring in Russia's Far East, a region close to Northern Japan, after the Friday’s report about the first explosion at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

But the second hydrogen explosion that occurred on Monday might also be accompanied by a change of wind, which is crucial for the existing situation.

The sunny weekend was replaced with thick fog and then a snowfall more typical for January than March. The crucial question now is in which direction the wind from Japan will now go: to the Pacific or to the continent.

Because the situation with Japanese nuclear power plants hit by earthquakes and tsunami remains unstable and unpredictable, nobody knows whether there will be a radioactive emission at one of them and in which direction the radioactive cloud will go.

The current level of radiation in Russia’s Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk remains between 2-5 microroentgens per hour – much less than in any industrial city in Russia.

Though there is no reason for panic, locals are bombarding the Emergency Ministry with phone calls demanding guarantees of safety. Still, nobody seems to be overreacting and relocating, RT’s Ekaterina Gracheva reports.

As far as tourists are concerned, they are taking the situation much more seriously following the panicking reports on international cable networks, and they are leaving the region as soon as possible to avoid any even hypothetical risks.

Russia quick to help Japan

As the scale of the Japanese earthquakes became clear, Russia was quick to offer support to its neighbour.

Although relations between Moscow and Tokyo have been frosty in recent months, with the territorial dispute over the Kurils dominating the recent political agenda, the aftermath of Friday’s massive earthquake has prompted an instant response.

And help has come from the general public as much as from officials, aid agencies reported.

 

Fast response

Red Cross staff in Primorye, the Far Eastern Russian region which faces Japan, reported that the phones were ringing off the hook as the scale of the catastrophe became apparent.

“Even when there have been tragic events in Russia we have not seen such a massive response,” the Primorye Red Cross regional offices told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

“The phone has not stopped ringing for three days.”

In the same region many families have opened up their homes to help Japanese families whose houses were destroyed by the quake and the subsequent tsunami which lashed the coastline.

Vladimir Ostapyuk, chairman of the regional branch of the Russian Union of Afghan Veterans said: “We sent an invitation to the Japanese government suggesting that victims of the natural disaster could be taken into Russian families.”

A hotline was set up on Monday morning (Sunday evening, Moscow time) and 50 host families have already been found, RIA Novosti reported.

Across Russia people have been laying flowers at Japanese embassies and consulates in a show of solidarity with the quake-stricken country.

 

Official response

Russia will increase supplies of liquified natural gas to Japan, deputy PM Igor Sechin confirmed during a televised meeting with Vladimir Putin.

And Sechin also said there was the potential to increase supplies of coal at a time when Japan faces nationwide energy shortages due to the shutdown of its nuclear power plants.

Putin added: “Japan is a friendly neighbour, and despite various problems we need to be reliable partners.”

Meanwhile President Dmitry Medvedev sent his condolences to those caught up in the disaster via his Twitter account, and added that he had ordered the government to provide assistance.

 

Come to Russia!

There was even an unexpected olive branch from Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the staunchly patriotic, if somewhat unpredictable, Liberal Democratic Party.

He posted a statement on the party’s website inviting displaced Japanese families to come and settle in Russia.

“The Japanese islands are not suitable for permanent residences, they are extremely vulnerable to national disasters,” he said, inviting people to leave Japan and build a new life in Russia.

“Russia will benefit if we are joined by these hard-working people, especially because historically some Russian ethnic groups have common roots with the Japanese.”

Neither the Russian nor Japanese governments have responded to this proposal at the time of writing.

Rescue vessel sails to Russia refrigerator cast ashore in Japan

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=16040120&PageNum=0

14.03.2011, 09.54

VLADIVOSTOK, March 14 (Itar-Tass) - The Grif rescue vessel of the RIMSCO shipping company on Monday left Vladivostok to sail to the area where the Khrizolitovy (Chrysolite) Russian transport refrigerator was cast ashore by a tsunami wave on the Japanese coast.

The refrigerator’s crew comprises 15 people, all of them are now on a Japanese tanker not far from the Khrizolitovy. “The Grif’s task is first of all to take on board the Russian sailors and then to try to get afloat the transport refrigerator,” RIMSCO Executive Director Fazil Aliyev told Itar-Tass.

During a powerful earthquake near the coast of the Honshu Island on March 11, the Khrizolitovy was staying in the area of the Ofunato port. The tsunami wave at first cast ashore the Russian refrigerator, then dragged it back into the sea where it ran aground, the Vladivostok maritime rescue-coordination centre said.

There were 13 sailors on the vessel when the tsunami wave hit, two of them were on the shore. One of the crewmembers broke his leg, the rest were not injured. They were taken from the refrigerator by a Japanese vessel.

The Khrizolitovy was damaged and its main engine broke down.

The Grif rescue vessel plans to come to the Ofunato port on March 17.