Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of starting a fire at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, currently under Russian occupation.
The fire at the Zaporizhzhia facility comes days after Ukraine launched its surprise attack on Russia's Kursk region, the largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war in 2022. According to some analysts, the fire is a brazen ploy to pressure Kyiv into backing down.
In a strongly-worded statement, Zelenskyy accused Russia of attempting “to blackmail Ukraine and all of Europe and the world.” Continuing, he added: “We are waiting for the reaction of the world; we are waiting for the reaction of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]. Russia must be responsible for this.”
Zelenskyy published a video showing black smoke belching from one of the towers. "Currently, the radiation indicators are normal. But as long as Russian terrorists retain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal," he said.
The U.N.'s IAEA nuclear watchdog, which has a presence at the sprawling six-reactor plant, said its experts had reported dark smoke emanating from the southern Ukraine facility shortly after multiple explosions had been heard.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi did not apportion blame for the attack but warned that it risked causing a catastrophe: "These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident,” he said. “They must stop now."
Ukraine’s nuclear authority, Energoatom, said Russia’s “negligence” was responsible for the fire, though it also claimed that arson was a possibility. Energoatom further accused Russia of storing weapons at the facility.
Moscow, though, has sought to shift the blame onto Kyiv with Russia’s nuclear energy company, Rosatom, saying the cooling tower had been hit in a drone attack. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also commented, saying Kyiv was trying to sow “nuclear terror.”
No evidence has been supplied to back up these accusations.
Russian forces captured the plant shortly after the beginning of their full-scale invasion in 2022. As things stand, the plant’s six reactors remain in cold shutdown.
In a strongly-worded statement, Zelenskyy accused Russia of attempting “to blackmail Ukraine and all of Europe and the world.” Continuing, he added: “We are waiting for the reaction of the world; we are waiting for the reaction of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]. Russia must be responsible for this.”
Zelenskyy published a video showing black smoke belching from one of the towers. "Currently, the radiation indicators are normal. But as long as Russian terrorists retain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal," he said.
The U.N.'s IAEA nuclear watchdog, which has a presence at the sprawling six-reactor plant, said its experts had reported dark smoke emanating from the southern Ukraine facility shortly after multiple explosions had been heard.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi did not apportion blame for the attack but warned that it risked causing a catastrophe: "These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident,” he said. “They must stop now."
Ukraine’s nuclear authority, Energoatom, said Russia’s “negligence” was responsible for the fire, though it also claimed that arson was a possibility. Energoatom further accused Russia of storing weapons at the facility.
Moscow, though, has sought to shift the blame onto Kyiv with Russia’s nuclear energy company, Rosatom, saying the cooling tower had been hit in a drone attack. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also commented, saying Kyiv was trying to sow “nuclear terror.”
No evidence has been supplied to back up these accusations.
Russian forces captured the plant shortly after the beginning of their full-scale invasion in 2022. As things stand, the plant’s six reactors remain in cold shutdown.
Source: Reuters
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