Russia governor says nuclear plant on fire, Zelensky says Moscow behind incident

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has caught fire during Ukraine shelling, according to the governor of the Russian region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims that the Russian military had started a fire on the grounds of the plant, warning of potential damage but assuring that radiation levels remain normal.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused the other side of planning to sabotage the plant, raising fears about nuclear safety.

The fire, which affected the plantโ€™s cooling systems, broke out following a Ukrainian attack on the nearby city of Energodar on Sunday, Balitsky said in a statement. The plantโ€™s six reactors were placed in a state of โ€œcold shutdownโ€ as a precaution, the governor explained, adding that there is โ€œno threat of a steam explosion or other consequences”.

โ€œEmergency workers are working at the scene of the fire, and the sources of ignition have begun being eliminated,โ€ Balitsky continued.

According to the governor, radiation levels around the plant are normal and โ€œthere is no threatโ€ to people nearby.

The Zaporozhye NPP was seized by Russia in 2022, four days into Moscowโ€™s military operation. Six months later, the region of Zaporozhye voted to join the Russian Federation in a referendum. Throughout the first year of the conflict, Russian forces foiled repeated Ukrainian attempts to attack the station โ€“ which sits on the Dnieper River โ€“ with landing craft and drones.

Kamikaze drones were used in Sundayโ€™s attack, the facilityโ€™s communications director, Evgeniya Yashina, annonced in a statement. According to Yashina, the attack marked the first time that Ukrainian forces were able to seriously damage the plantโ€™s infrastructure.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the shelling of the plant as a โ€œterroristโ€ act and called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to perform โ€œat least some imitation of workโ€ to ensure the plantโ€™s security.

โ€œThe terrorists in Kiev, under the leadership of the collective West, destroyed their country, ruined the people of Ukraine, undermined global energy and food security, and now they have begun the nuclear terror of the continent.”

The IAEA maintains an observer mission at the ZNPP and has condemned the repeated strikes against the plant. However, the UN agency refuses to attribute blame for these attacks, claiming that it does not have โ€œindisputable evidenceโ€ of Kievโ€™s culpability. In a presentation to the UN General Assembly last month, Russiaโ€™s deputy representative to the organization, Dmitry Polyansky, displayed wreckage of a Ukrainian drone that hit the facility, accusing Kiev of posing โ€œthe only real threat to nuclear facilities in Ukraine today.โ€

Zelensky also said Ukraine has recorded from Nikopol that the Russian occupiers have started a fire on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

He wrote on the social platform X, โ€œCurrently, radiation levels are within norm. However, as long as the Russian terrorists maintain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal.โ€

โ€œSince the first day of its seizure, Russia has been using the Zaporizhzhia NPP only to blackmail Ukraine, all of Europe, and the world,โ€ Zelensky continued.

โ€œWe are waiting for the world to react, waiting for the [International Atomic Energy Agency] to react. Russia must be held accountable for this. Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhzhia NPP can guarantee a return to normalcy and complete safety.โ€

โ€บ Subscribe

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

More Articles