A new video circulated online shows the presence of Russian military vehicles parked in the turbine hall connected to one of the reactors at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Moscow troops and the center of international attention amid fears of catastrophic accidents : CNN writes it, adding that it geolocated and authenticated the video.
However, it is unclear when the pictures were taken. In it – writes CNN – you can see two rows of Russian military trucks, at least five of which are visible, one of them with the “Z” symbol painted on the hood, parked in the turbine room about 130 meters from the corresponding nuclear reactor, one of the six of the central ones.
Also seen is what appears to be a tent and some pallets of different sizes, the purpose of which is not clear, according to CNN.
Moscow has so far stated that the military equipment present at the plant only concerns on-call duty and yesterday the Russian Defense Ministry said satellite images clearly showed that “there are no weapons, especially heavy ones,” at the facility. Ukraine, on the other hand, accuses the Russian army of firing from inside the nuclear power plant and turning it into a protective shield – allegations which Russia has denied – and also the Ukrainian personnel responsible for operating the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, , which is due to be visited in days by experts from the IAEA, the UN agency for nuclear energy.
US: “Russia despises nuclear safety”
The United States is aware of “reports that the Russian military abused personnel at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.” This was stated by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, condemning “Russia’s reckless disregard for nuclear safety”. The State Department reiterated the need to allow officials from the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, access to the facility as soon as possible.
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