A fire broke out on Sunday in a cooling tower at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is controlled by Russian troops, with Moscow and Kiev blaming each other.
Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky announced on X that the Russians had set fire to the nuclear power plant.
The radiation levels are within the normal range. “But as long as the Russian terrorists maintain control of the nuclear power plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal.”
Because the Kremlin would use the nuclear power plant to blackmail Europe and the world. “We are waiting for a reaction from the world, for a reaction from the IAEA. “Russia must be held responsible for this,” Zelensky demands.
IAEA response
The IAEA announced late on X that its experts had observed heavy smoke after several explosions were heard during the evening. The nuclear plant reported a “suspected drone attack on one of the cooling towers” to the IAEA.
Moscow, however, blamed Kiev for the fire. “As a result of the shelling of the town of Enerhodar by Ukrainian forces, a fire broke out in a cooling system,” Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, said on the online service Telegram.
All six units of the nuclear power plant are currently “shut down for an extended period of time,” the plant’s press service said after the incident. Balitsky said there was “no danger of a steam explosion or other consequences.” Firefighters are on site and are fighting the flames.
The main fire appears to have been extinguished
The largest fire at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been extinguished, according to Russian news agency TASS. The agency based its report on information from Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom. Ukrainian nuclear power authority Energoatom announced on the short message service Telegram that a cooling tower and other systems at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant were damaged. According to Tass, Rosatom also confirmed damage to a cooling tower. Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations say it is an unusable tower.
Largest nuclear power plant in Europe
Russia seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant shortly after the start of its war of aggression and has held it ever since. Both sides blame each other for attacks on or sabotage of the power plant. Russia has recently repeatedly complained about Ukrainian drone attacks.
Due to safety concerns, the reactors were shut down in 2022, but still require cooling. IAEA observers are stationed at the site.
Source: Krone
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