Lhe world, on the brink of a nuclear accident? kyiv and Moscow accused each other, Thursday, August 11, of new bombings at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Ukraine and Europe, occupied by Russia, the Ukrainian operator evoking “five strikes” nearly a deposit of radioactive substances. “Five new strikes were reported in the direct vicinity of a depot of radioactive substances,” said the Ukrainian state company Energoatom, accusing the Russian forces.
In addition, several radiation sensors were damaged following a new Russian bombardment on Thursday on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, near a nuclear reactor, said the Ukrainian operator Energoatom. “The situation is getting worse, radioactive substances are located nearby and several radiation sensors have been damaged,” writes Energoatom on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the international community to “react immediately” to remove the Russians from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. “Only the total withdrawal of the Russians (…) would guarantee nuclear security for all of Europe.
In the wake of the first five strikes, a pro-Russian official, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the administration installed by Moscow in this occupied region of southern Ukraine, had blamed on Telegram “the fighters (of Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky “, also evoking five strikes in the same place and in the same terms. “The grass caught fire in a small area, but no one was injured,” the Russian and Ukrainian statements read.
No radioactive leakage “at present”
The two sources then reported five other projectiles that fell near a fire station near the plant. Vladimir Rogov asserted that these bombardments had been carried out by means of multiple rocket launchers and heavy artillery pieces from the right bank of the Dnieper. He notably cited the town of Marganets, where 13 Ukrainian civilians were killed on Wednesday in Russian bombardments, according to Ukrainian authorities.
No radioactive leak was detected after the strikes on Thursday targeted the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Ukraine and Europe, said another official of the pro-Russian occupation administration. “At the moment, no contamination has been detected at the station and the level of radioactivity is normal”, declared on Telegram Evguéni Balitski, head of the civil and military administration set up in this region of the south of Russian-controlled Ukraine.
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UN boss warns of possible ‘catastrophe’
Several bombings of which the two parties mutually accuse each other targeted the Zaporizhia power plant last week, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. The situation in Zaporizhia arouses the concern of the international community. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned of a risk of “catastrophe”. Russian troops took control of the plant on March 4, shortly after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine began. “The site must not be used in the context of military operations”, insisted the UN Secretary General, calling for the creation of a “demilitarized perimeter to ensure the security of the area”.
A call supported by Washintgon. “Fighting near a nuclear power plant is dangerous and irresponsible,” a State Department spokesperson said, adding that “the United States continues to call on Russia to cease all military operations in and around nuclear power plants. nuclear power plants and to return full control of them to Ukraine, and support Ukrainian calls for a demilitarized zone in and around the nuclear plant”.
These statements come as the UN Security Council meets urgently Thursday afternoon to discuss the situation, at the request of Russia. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its director general, Rafael Grossi, would brief the UN Security Council “on the nuclear safety and security situation” at the plant, as well as of its “efforts to agree on an IAEA expert mission to the site as soon as possible”.
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“The hour is serious”, launched in the evening of Thursday the director general of the IAEA before the Security Council of the UN. “The IAEA must be allowed to carry out its mission in Zaporizhia as quickly as possible,” he added.