₦airaland Forum

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin's comments that Moscow's nuclear deterrent is on high alert have unleashed a wave of anxiety in Central Europe, with people rushing to buy iodine which they believe may protect them from radiation.

From Poland to Bulgaria, people living in the former Soviet-era satellite states have also jammed passport offices, topped up their fuel tanks and prepared to leave at a moment's notice.

Others enquired about joining the military.

"In the past six days Bulgarian pharmacies have sold as much [iodine] as they sell for a year," said Nikolay Kostov, chair of the Pharmacies Union. "Some pharmacies are already out of stock. We have ordered new quantities but I am afraid they will not last very long."

"It's been a bit mad," said Miroslava Stenkova, a representative of Dr. Max pharmacies in the Czech Republic, where some stores had run out of iodine after demand soared.

Iodine - taken as pills or syrup - is considered a way of protecting the body against conditions such as thyroid cancer in case of radioactive exposure. In 2011, Japanese authorities recommended that people around the site of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant take iodine.

Officials in the region have recognised the demand but cautioned iodine is not necessary in the current situation and would not help in case of nuclear war.

Dana Drabova, head of the Czech State office for Nuclear Safety, wrote on Twitter: "You ask a lot about iodine tablets... as radiation protection when (God forbid) nuclear weapons are used, they are basically useless."

News last week that Russian forces had gained control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant where an accident in 1986 contaminated a huge swathe of Ukraine and sent a radioactive cloud across Europe, unnerved people in a region where many remember being given iodine in the aftermath of that disaster.

Radiation levels at Chernobyl have increased but are still low enough not to pose a hazard to the public despite the movement of Russia's military vehicles there, the U.N. nuclear watchdog IAEA said on Wednesday.

In Poland, the number of pharmacies selling iodine more than doubled, according to gdziepolek.pl, a Polish website that helps patients find the nearest pharmacy with a drug they are seeking.

"Internal data on our website shows that interest in iodine increased around 50 times since last Thursday," said Bartlomiej Owczarek, the website's co-founder.

RUSH TO RENEW PASSPORTS

Since the start of the fighting last Thursday, hundreds of thousands of refugees have crossed into the European Union, mainly entering through borders in Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to flee what Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and capture "neo-Nazis" he falsely says are running the country of 44 million people.

Last Sunday Putin ordered his military command to put Russia's deterrence forces - which include nuclear arms - on high alert, citing what he called aggressive statements by NATO leaders and Western economic sanctions against Moscow.

Washington and its NATO allies have rejected Ukraine's request to impose a no-fly zone over the country, arguing this would lead to direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

Against this backdrop, some central Europeans have prepared to leave, clogging passport offices to ensure they had valid travel documents. Slovakia's interior minister called on citizens not to flood police with applications while long lines formed outside some passport offices in Warsaw.

"I have a son who lives outside the EU and I am supposed to go visit him and I was afraid that later I would not be able to get a passport," said Maria, a pensioner standing in line who declined to give her full name.

"All these people are not standing in this line on a whim, but because they want a safety net."

In the Czech Republic - where Russian soldiers helped Communists crush the 1968 Prague Spring protests for reforms - authorities scrapped a regular monthly testing of emergency sirens on Wednesday to avoid alarming people.

Some young central Europeans considered joining the military. Poland's defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak said more than 2,200 have declared their interest in joining the Polish Armed Forces, more than five times the number the previous week.

At a recruiting station in Prague, an officer said interest had jumped and one student said he was there due to Ukraine.

"The situation in Ukraine only convinced me it is probably the best decision I can take for my country," said Marek Jetmar, a 27-year-old psychology student.

OfoIgbo:
All these killings being orchestrated by Fulani-led DSS to implicate IPOB.

Buhari should put a stop to all these barbarism by his DSS people in the SE

helinues:
Stop using attack with Unknown gun men.

That could be another Nollywood script by DSS that's according to the deluded Ipobians

Nonpartisan1:
Nice one by IPOB. However I urge to make the lockdown a daily affairs in the South East. They shouldn't be any form of movement in Biafra starting from that day ..

Buhari will suffer more..if they do it like that.

gloriaunobi:
Sabo have no place in Biafra land

IduNaOba:
Ndịa bụ ụmụ ajọ mmụọ.
Ndị ara nwụrụ anwụ ka ha bụcha.

Since the killing of the 8 in imo for which they rejoiced, it has been a sudden back to back hits on the WICKED FORCES OF DARKNESS and INTINIDATION of Nigeria
Na them do themselves
As for our haters like the guy you quoted, he should go and take several seats!
UGM are not ESN
UGM arw not IPOB
UGM arw aggrieved people who have gotten tired of the wickedness of the Nigerian forces of darkness and intimidation.
Until they learn, UGM should Continue to fall on them

iLegendd:
8 Things The Unknown Gunmen Have Achieved

Below are 8 things I think they've achieved so far...

1. They've sent a strong message to people that hold the highest share of violence in Nigeria that violence is for everybody and no one has monopoly of it.

2. They have sent a message to the federal government that everyone has an agenda too. If your agenda is to steal money, another man's agenda may be freedom of speech and living in peace.

3. They've sent a message to men on uniform that everyone is human and the only difference is gun and extra bullet.

4. Men on uniform are angry, but they'll respect blo.ody civilians more because they are truly blo.ody now. Fear is more important than respect — in the art of war or quest for freedom.

5. Politicians will embezzle less now because their native doctors, gatemen, themselves, and their bodyguards are no longer safe. With this fear, politicians can't act like gods as they used to because they know if they do, it will get to them soon. Even if they continue to act like gods, they'll do it with a pinch of humility and they'll watch their tongues.

6. Civilians who don't have relations that wear uniform or have been harassed by men on uniform are secretly happy these things are happening, but won't tell you for fear of Pantami Effect. (Using what you said against you in the future).

7. Men on uniform that stay on the road to take bribes will not be as arrogant and confident as they used to in stopping cars indiscriminately and intimidating them. The next car that is coming may be the wrong one — the UGM guys.

8. Corp members love being posted to Lagos, PH, and Abuja. Men on uniform also love being posted to these places, especially South South and the East. Why? Lots of money to be made on the road by harassing innocent people without the government punishing them.

With this, men on uniform from the North will no longer have interest in lobbying to be posted to the East and South. This means intimidation from northern men on uniform will reduce.

War is not good, but a man who doesn't command fear, is a man who has a lot to work on.

Now, civilians in the East command some atom of fear — which is needed for peace and mutual understanding to reign. They will be cautious of how they treat civilians with all these that have happened.

I sue for peace before armed-robbers use this opportunity for robbery, but the above is what I feel has been achieved by these unknown gunmen.

These are just my opinions and observations. Don't cry and don't quote me — I won't reply


Thank you and let there be peace now.