Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of a Russian terrorist attack on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The secret service has information that Russia is considering the scenario of an attack on the nuclear power plant, including the release of radioactive radiation. “They have prepared everything for this,” Zelenskyj said on Thursday.
The president insisted that radiation knows no country borders: “Only the wind direction determines who it hits,” Zelenskyy said in the video shared on his social media channels Thursday afternoon (see below).
Kremlin: “Another Lie”
The Russian leadership denied the allegations. “That’s another lie. We only had contact with the IAEA,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The head of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), Rafael Grossi, had visited Europe’s largest nuclear power plant last week.
According to information from Moscow, Grossi will travel to Russia on Friday for talks over concerns about the nuclear power plant. In the Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad, Grossi is planning a meeting with the head of the Rosatom nuclear agency in Moscow, Alexei Lichatschow, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Thursday. The IAEA did not initially confirm the meeting.
Mines were laid near the power plant
During his visit to the power plant in the disputed region of Zaporizhia, Grossi described the security situation there as serious but stable. The IAEA also responded to reports that mines had been laid near the cooling pond. None were found during the visit. But mines have been placed elsewhere in the facility for “defense purposes,” according to Russian security personnel.
Although the reactors of the power station occupied by Russian troops have been shut down for months, the fuel in the reactor cores and in the storage pools still have to be continuously cooled with fresh water. This is the only way to prevent a meltdown and release of radioactivity. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant drew its cooling water from the Kachowka reservoir, which has been losing water since the dam blew up two weeks ago.
Russia refuses to surrender
There are still water reserves in the cooling pond, which, according to the IAEA, are sufficient for several months. However, given the course of the war, experts from the IAEA and other organizations are concerned about the safety and sustainability of this interim solution. Russia rejects Ukrainian demands for the transfer of the power plant.
Fears of a nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant have flared up again and again since the start of the war in Ukraine. Grossi has visited the nuclear power plant several times since it was occupied by Russian troops in March last year. The security of the power plant has been repeatedly threatened by attacks and fighting in the area, for which Moscow and Kiev blame each other.
Source: Krone
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