According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there have been several strong explosions at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. IAEA experts on the ground reported dozens of strikes near and at the site of Europe’s largest nuclear facility, the authority said on Sunday.
“Whoever is behind it, it must stop immediately,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi demanded. “As I’ve said many times, you’re playing with fire!” He again appealed to both sides to establish a security zone around the facility in which attacks and fighting are avoided.
Unfortunately, intensive negotiations with both parties have not yet led to an agreement. The incidents on Saturday and Sunday abruptly ended a period of relative calm at the Russian facility, Grossi added.
The weekend’s incidents abruptly ended a period of relative calm at the Russian-run facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said. Experts from the Atomic Energy Agency saw some of the explosions from their windows. Facility management reported damage to some buildings, systems and equipment. So far, however, the damage has not compromised nuclear safety. There were no injuries.
Radiation near the nuclear power plant is normal
Russia’s defense ministry has accused Ukrainian forces of firing massively at the nuclear power plant with artillery since Saturday. Twelve large-caliber projectiles were aimed at the facility on Sunday morning alone, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Eight of them hit between the reactor blocks, one hit the roof of a special station. However, the radiation near the nuclear power plant is normal.
According to Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the energy company Rosenergoatom, 15 shells were fired. “They shot not only yesterday, but also today, they are shooting now,” he said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Any artillery fire on the facility poses a threat to nuclear safety. According to Karchaa, the shells were fired near a dry nuclear waste storage facility and a building that stores fresh spent fuel.
The plant has been under Russian control since March
Russia has effectively controlled Europe’s largest nuclear power plant since early March, when Moscow’s troops occupied large parts of southern Ukraine as part of its war of aggression. The nuclear power plant has come under fire several times in recent months during fierce fighting. Ukraine and Russia blame each other.
Source: Krone
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