Zaporizhzhia, the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, has come under repeated fire in the last couple of weeks as fighting around the facility continues, raising the alarms for a nuclear fallout
FILE – A Russian serviceman in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, on May 1, 2022. Image credits: AP
Zaporizhzhia: As Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant comes under repeated fire, the risk of a nuclear disaster is increasing with every passing day, the mayor of the city where the facility is located said on Sunday.
The Zaporizhzhia power plant, Europe’s largest, was seized by Russian soldiers in the opening days of the invasion and has remained on the front line ever since.
This week the facility has come under fire repeatedly, with Kyiv and Moscow trading blame for the dangerous escalation.
The mayor of the southeastern city of Energodar, where the plant is located, told AFP “the risks are increasing every day”.
“What is happening there is outright nuclear terrorism,” Dmytro Orlov told AFP by telephone from the city of Zaporizhzhia, which remains under Ukrainian control. “It can end unpredictably at any moment”, he added.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of basing troops and weapons in the station, launching attacks and using the atomic plant as a shield from returning fire.
In his televised address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of nuclear “blackmail” and using the plant to “intimidate people in an extremely cynical way”.
“The situation is hazardous, and what causes the most concern is that there is no de-escalation process,” said Orlov.
People in areas the plant has been living in the shadow of possible nuclear fallout.
The areas under Ukrainian control and Russian control in the region are divided by the Dnipro river. Both have engaged in striking each other across the river, dangerously close to the plant.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for shelling the plant, raising an alarm of a nuclear catastrophe. The United Nations had earlier this week on Thursday conducted an emergency meeting over these developments.
On 5 August Ukraine said the first strikes had damaged power cables and forced one of the reactors to stop working.
Ukraine, backed by western allies, has demanded demilitarisation of the region around the plant to avert any nuclear catastrophe.
With inputs from AFP
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