Min Aung Hlaing in Russia for World Atomic Week
Regime media reported that Min Aung Hlaing departed the capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday to attend the World Atomic Week 2025 in Moscow, Russia, from Sept. 25-28. It added that the regime leader will meet with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during his seventh visit to Russia since he ousted the democratically-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Russia’s plan to build a nuclear power plant in Burma will reportedly continue following the devastating earthquake on March 28. “The recent earthquake has not affected Rosatom’s plans in Myanmar,” Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation, or Rosatom, told Reuters in a press release sent by email. It added that Rosatom follows “strict seismic resistance requirements.”
Alexey Likhachev, the Rosatom CEO, confirmed on March 4 that the deal reached between Naypyidaw and Moscow on the construction of a new 110-MW capacity nuclear power plant, consisting of two 55-MW reactors, will be built near Naypyidaw. At least 4,477 were killed and 11,366 were injured in central Burma during the March 28 quake, according to DVB data.
Arakan Army detains journalist in Rakhine State
The Arakan State-based Border News Agency (BNA) told DVB that one of its female reporters, named Mu Dra, was taken from her home on Sept. 20 and is still being interrogated by the Arakan Army (AA) intelligence unit in Maungdaw. The AA seized Maungdaw on Dec. 8, bringing the entire 167 miles (270 km) long Burma-Bangladesh border under its control.
“Keeping a woman for 2-3 days is inappropriate,” Kaung Mrat Naing, the BNA editor-in-chief, told DVB. He added Mu Dra was reporting on humanitarian needs and human rights violations. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement on Tuesday calling for her immediate release. “All combatants in Myanmar’s civil war must protect journalists and allow them to report freely,” wrote CPJ’s Shawn Crispin.
The Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM), formed after the 2021 coup to protect press freedom and independent media from Burma in Thailand, states that at least 200 journalists have been arrested since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Seven journalists have been killed. Forty media workers are currently in prison in Burma. The AA did not respond to a DVB request for comment on Wednesday.
Regime forces near Laykaykaw town in Karen State
Residents in Myawaddy Township of Karen State told DVB that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) have been fighting regime forces in villages near Laykaykaw town, which is under KNLA control, since Monday. Laykaykaw is located seven miles (11 km) south of Myawaddy and 89 miles (143 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An.
“Regime troops haven’t reached Laykaykaw but they’re heading towards the town from Nohphoe and its surrounding [villages],” a KNLA source told DVB on the condition of anonymity. He added that some KNLA troops were transferred across the border into Tak Province of Thailand for medical treatment but did not disclose the number of casualties from either side.
KNLA-led resistance forces withdrew from Nohphoe and Hteemuhta villages during fighting against pro-regime forces in Myawaddy on Sept. 5. Aid workers in Myawaddy told DVB that around 4,000 residents were forced to flee their homes and are living in a displacement camp along the Thaungyin (Moei) River since the regime recaptured the Myawaddy-Kawkareik stretch of the Asia Highway on Sept. 6.
News by Region
KARENNI—The Karenni Political Prisoners Association (KPPA) reported that prisoners at Loikaw Prison are suffering from skin diseases, influenza, back pain, blurred vision, stomach illnesses, and paralysis in the lower body. Political prisoners are not permitted to receive parcels, or family visits.
“Skin diseases that would usually heal, like scabies, no longer recover at all. It has become impossible to cure them in their current condition,” the KPPA told the Kantarawaddy Times news agency. There are around 700 inmates, including about 50 political prisoners, held at Loikaw Prison.
NAYPYIDAW—Aid workers told DVB that two wards in Pobbathiri Township were flooded with water on Tuesday. “The water level isn’t very high. But the current is very strong, so it’s difficult to move around,” an aid worker shared on social media.
The regime Department of Meteorology and Hydrology warned of rain-triggered floods and landslides in central and southern Burma due to Typhoon Ragasa making landfall in China on Wednesday. It forecast heavy rainfall across Burma until the end of September.
SHAN—Over 10,000 residents of Kyaukme and Hsipaw townships in northern Shan, forced to flee their homes due to fighting between regime forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), are facing shortages of food and medicine and urgently need assistance.
“They’ve been displaced for over a month now, and their food supplies are running very low,” an aid worker told the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN). Around 9,000 people are taking refuge in more than 40 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kyaukme with nearly 500 sheltering on farms.
TANINTHARYI—Residents in Kawthaung Township told DVB that 144 migrant workers from Burma deported by Thailand after serving their sentences were inspected by regime police on Tuesday. Kawthaung is located 406 miles (653 km) south of the region’s capital Dawei and west of Ranong, Thailand.
“The police checked whether they had donated funds to the [National Unity Government] or had been charged under Section 505(a) [of the Penal Code],” a resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The migrant workers are being held at the Nawarat Stadium in Kawthaung, the source added.
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