Nuclear weapons must never be used, Nagasaki survivor tells Putin before Nobel ceremony

Nihon Falcom

09/12/2024 15:35

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      Survivor says Putin does not understand perils of nuclear
war
    

        * 
      Russian leader has warned of nuclear strike during Ukraine
war
    

        * 
      Atomic bomb survivors' group to receive Nobel Peace Prize
    

        * 
      Ceremony takes place Tuesday at Oslo City Hall
    

  
    By Nora Buli
       OSLO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin
does not truly understand the destructive power of nuclear
weapons, a 92-year-old survivor of the atomic bombing of
Nagasaki said on Monday, on the eve of his Japanese survivors'
group receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
    Terumi Tanaka was referring to threats made by Putin and
other senior Russian officials to use nuclear weapons if
necessary to counter what they see as an aggressive and hostile
West as the war in Ukraine grinds towards its third anniversary.
    Last month Putin, whose country has the world's largest
nuclear arsenal, lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in
response to a broader range of conventional attacks.
    This year's Nobel Peace Prize was won by Nihon Hidankyo, a
group of now elderly survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, "for its efforts to achieve a
world free of nuclear weapons".    
    "I don't think President Putin truly understands what
nuclear weapons are for human beings," Tanaka, a co-chair of the
group, told a news conference when asked about the Russian
leader's rhetoric and his decision to lower the threshold.
    "I don't think he has even thought about this or understood
this... What we need to do is to have him (Putin) really
understand what these are."
    "We would like to say nuclear weapons are things which must
never be used," Tanaka said, adding that he had sent such a
message to the Russian leader on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo.    
    On Tuesday, Tanaka will give the Nobel lecture on behalf of
Nihon Hidankyo at a ceremony at Oslo City Hall. The group's two
other co-chairs, Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, and Toshiyuki Mimaki,
82, will also attend.
    
    CROWD-FUNDING
    Nihon Hidankyo has sent a 30-member delegation of
'hibakusha' - survivors of the atomic bombings in Japan - and
their children and grandchildren to the ceremony.
    To afford the costly trip, which also required additional
helpers and interpreters, Nihon Hidankyo led a crowd-funding
campaign, hoping to raise 10 million yen ($66,278) - a target
they easily exceeded as supporters pledged more than quadruple
that amount.
    However, the appeal also highlights the advanced age of the
'hibakusha' and the visible and invisible scars they still carry
nearly 80 years after the explosions that ended World War Two.
    An estimated 210,000 people died, either immediately or over
time, as a result of the bombs dropped in 1945 on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, respectively. Today's nuclear
weapons are far more powerful than those used at that time.
    As of March this year, there were still 106,825 atomic bomb
survivors registered in Japan, data from the country's health
ministry showed, with an average age of 85.6 years.
    ($1 = 150.8800 yen)

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Japanese atomic bomb survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo wins Nobel
Peace Prize     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3LN0J5
FACTBOX-Who are Japan's Nobel Peace Prize winners Nihon
Hidankyo?     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3LN0BJ
FACTBOX-Previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3KY08C
FACTBOX-How is the Nobel Peace Prize decided?     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3KY08I
GRAPHIC-Nobel laureates    http://tmsnrt.rs/2y6ATVW
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo
Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Gareth Jones)
 ((Nora.Buli@thomsonreuters.com; (+47) 21 04 05 56; Reuters
Messaging: nora.buli.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))