Russia to build Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant
ALMATY: Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom will lead the construction of the first atomic power plant in Kazakhstan, the world's top uranium producer, the Central Asian country's authorities said on Saturday.
'Rosatom has been named as the leader of the international consortium for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan,' the former Soviet republic's nuclear power agency said in a statement. Kazakhstan, a vast resource-rich country in Central Asia, is currently the world's top uranium producer, providing 43 percent of supplies. It does not produce enough electricity to meet domestic consumption needs.
The new power plant, whose construction was approved in a referendum in late 2024, will be built near the half-abandoned village of Ulken near Balkhash Lake. The lake, located in the southeast, is the country's second largest.
China's National Nuclear Corporation, France's EDF and South Korea's Hydro and Nuclear Power had all bid to build the plant. In their announcement on Saturday, the Kazakh authorities said that the three companies would be included in the consortium led by Rosatom but did not provide any details.
Observers say the idea of the consortium is a way for authorities to maintain good relations with all the countries involved but is unlikely to come to fruition and Rosatom will end up building the plant by itself.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has sought to keep good relations both with former colonial power Russia and with China, which borders the country to the east and finances major infrastructure projects in the region.
Rosatom has proposed financing the project and work will now begin to thresh out the details, the statement said. The announcement comes a few days before Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to visit Kazakhstan for a 'China-Central Asia' summit.
Kazakhstan had nuclear power plants when it was part of the Soviet Union, in addition to hosting Soviet nuclear weapons. It was also the site for Soviet nuclear testing.
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Express Tribune
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Untangling the Spider's Web of Ukraine
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The BBC, citing satellite imagery from Capella Space, confirmed at least four long-range bombers were destroyed at Belaya airbase. Ukrainian drone footage released shortly after showed direct hits on a Tu-95, reinforcing the evidence. 18 months in the making Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reportedly orchestrated the operation over a period of 18 months. In a statement, SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk revealed how the drones had been stealthily smuggled into Russia: packed inside wooden cabins mounted on trucks, hidden beneath remotely operated, detachable roofs. These trucks, Maliuk said, were driven to locations near airbases by unsuspecting drivers who were allegedly unaware of the drones inside. Once in position, the drones were launched straight from the lorries. Footage circulating online shows one such drone emerging through the roof of a vehicle. Russian Telegram channel Baza, known to have ties to state security services, reported that all drivers gave similar testimonies. 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'Every airbase can't have bespoke air defences,' Dr. Rogers adds. 'Urban areas can't deploy GPS jammers or microwave weapons without impacting civilian life. And even in rural areas, the numbers just don't add up. Russia likely deprioritised Murmansk and Siberia for this reason.' The same logic could soon apply to US and NATO's expeditionary micro-bases and even civilian infrastructure. Dr. Rogers cites recent sabotage incidents across Europe — 'the Heathrow substation, the Cannes Film Festival blackout, the French rail system disruptions' — as troubling signs of hybrid threats that may soon include commercial surface and underwater drones. Fleeting win or game-changer? Dr. Malcolm Davis, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), calls the attack 'an important strategic strike with high symbolic value.' Though he stops short of comparing it to a 'Russian Pearl Harbor', as some observers immediately labeled it, Dr. Davis notes the precision and scale: 'Containerised munitions, precision FPV drones, Russian drivers unwittingly carrying payloads — this was 18 months of sophisticated intelligence and operational planning.' Yet he also cautions against overstating its impact. One especially sensitive concern is whether the attack's targeting of strategic bombers, technically part of Russia's nuclear triad, risked escalation. Dr. Davis notes that while Tu-95s and Tu-22s were struck, the Tu-160 fleet seemingly remains intact, and Russia has not reached the nuclear red line. 'Yes, it hit Russia's long-range bomber fleet hard, especially Tu-95s and Tu-22s. But many Tu-160 Blackjacks remain. Russia retaliated quickly with bomber-led strikes on Ukrainian cities. Strategically, the war remains unchanged unless Ukraine's international backing falters,' he shares. 'Technically, yes — this could be seen as an attack on nuclear forces,' Dr. Davis explains. 'But using that as a justification for tactical nuclear retaliation is far more complex. It would break the nuclear taboo that's held since Nagasaki. The global political cost — alienating BRICS allies like China or inviting direct NATO intervention — would likely outweigh any benefit for Russia.' Still, the threshold exists. The danger is not that Spider's Web will provoke nuclear retaliation today, but that future strikes — perhaps by actors without the same geopolitical constraints — might not show such restraint. That strategic dimension carries existential weight. Dr. Davis warns that if the United States abandons Ukraine, and European nations fail to fill the void, 'we're either looking at a prolonged stalemate — or a probable Russian victory.' In that context, Spider's Web may be a fleeting tactical win rather than a game-changer. 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With no boots on the ground and no need for overt military engagement, Spider's Web-style attacks could blur the line between cyber operations, sabotage, and conventional warfare. A deniable drone strike that cripples an adversary's airbase or power grid may one day fall into the grey zone between war and peace — a tempting tool in an era of hybrid conflict. Just as roadside IEDs reshaped the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan, these low-cost, high-impact drone tactics could redefine the modern theatre of war. What Ukraine achieved with Spider's Web was unprecedented. But what it may have inadvertently unleashed is a new doctrine of distributed, deniable, and devastating warfare — one that doesn't require control of the skies, only control of the code. The consequences are profound — not only for military strategists and national security planners but also for civilian infrastructure, global arms control regimes, and the future of warfare itself.
Express Tribune
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Iran, Israel exchange massive strikes as conflict escalates
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AFP images from the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showed blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris after Iran's first wave of attacks. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had struck dozens of targets in Israel. One Iranian missile wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said. Firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a Tel Aviv high-rise building on Friday. Chen Gabizon, a resident, said he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert. "We just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place," he said. In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport on Saturday, an AFP journalist said. The Israeli army said it had struck an underground military facility Saturday in western Iran's Khorramabad that contained surface-to-surface and cruise missiles. Iranian media also reported a "massive explosion" following an Israeli drone strike on an oil refinery in the southern city of Kangan. The attacks prompted several countries to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday Jordan, Lebanon and Syria reopened their airspace. Iran's airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported, as was Israel's, according to authorities.
Express Tribune
11 hours ago
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Boeing resumes China deliveries
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