Russia and Ukraine accused each other this Thursday (November 8, 2022) of carrying out new bombings in the area of Ukraine’s nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, where the situation is “serious”, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned.
The two warring countries reported five rocket attacks near a radioactive material storage facility at the facility, the largest in Europe, which is located in southern Ukraine.
Shortly thereafter, the operator of the Ukrainian plants, Energoaton, announced another Russian bombardment near one of the plant’s six reactors, which caused “a large amount of smoke” and damaged “several radiation sensors”.
The Ukrainian plant in Zaporizhia came under the control of Russian troops on March 4, shortly after the start of the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine accuses Russia of stationing troops in the factory and storing weapons.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an “immediate cessation” of all military activity around the facility and warned that continued hostilities “could lead to disaster”.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi told a Security Council meeting that “the situation is serious, serious” around the plant and urged Russians and Ukrainians to allow entry of a mission from the agency “as soon as possible”. . .
“Russian Nuclear Blackmail”
During the two-hour meeting, all members of the Security Council supported the mission, but did not agree on who is responsible for the attacks or who should organize the visit.
US Representative Bonnie Jenkins, along with other delegations, called on Russia to withdraw its military so Ukraine can “restore the impeccable security, safety and security it has maintained at the facility for years.”
A spokesman for US diplomacy also advocated the creation of a demilitarized zone around the plant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a similar statement, denouncing “Russian nuclear blackmail.” “Only the withdrawal of the Russians … will guarantee the nuclear safety of all of Europe,” he said.
“The whole world must react immediately to kick out the inmates of the Zaporizhia plant,” added Zelenskyy, who has warned in recent days that Russia could cause a worse accident than Chernobyl in 1986.
The Zaporizhia power plant near the town of Energodar on the banks of the Dnieper River has six of Ukraine’s 15 reactors, capable of powering four million homes.
“Russia has turned the nuclear power plant into a battlefield,” Zelenskyi said in a video conference speech at a donors’ meeting in Copenhagen.
mg (afp, Portal, efe, AP)