Ukraine has called on NATO to protect the country’s nuclear power plants from Russian sabotage. “All states have an interest in ensuring that no dangerous incidents occur in our nuclear facilities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday. And added: “We all need protection against Russian sabotage in the nuclear facilities.”
Last weekend, the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was shelled. The head of the UN nuclear regulator warned Monday of new attacks. Those firing at the power plant were “playing with fire,” said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi. Russia and Ukraine blamed each other.
“There is a risk of a nuclear accident”
According to its own statements, the Russian nuclear state authority Rosatom has discussed the weekend’s events with the IAEA. There is a risk of a nuclear incident, it said afterwards. Rosatom has controlled the plant since October, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the plant to be formally taken over and the Ukrainian workers assigned to a Russian subsidiary.
“Theft”
Ukraine describes the process as theft. Before the invasion, the nuclear power plant provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity. The reactors are shut down. However, there is a risk of overheating if the cooling systems lose power. The associated lines have been interrupted several times during the war.
‘Heaviest fighting in Donetsk region’
The bombing of the nuclear power plant follows setbacks for Russian troops in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Since then, Russia has been bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Russian forces are also increasingly shelling Ukrainian positions in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian information. Nearly 400 attacks were counted on Sunday, Selenskyj said in his video address. “The heaviest fighting is still in the Donetsk region,” the president said. Due to the bad weather, there were fewer attacks. Russian shelling remains “unfortunately extremely high”.
Russia had withdrawn its troops from the southern city of Kherson earlier this month and moved some of them to reinforce their positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Donbass. Kherson is still without electricity, running water and heating.
Source: Krone
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