Kyiv and Moscow once again accused each other of bombing Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear plant, the largest in Europe, which is controlled by Russia and was targeted with multiple strikes a week ago.
“Reduce your presence on the streets of Energodar. We received information about new provocations” by the Russians, the Ukrainian group “Energoatum”, which operates the station, said on the Telegram website, in response to a message from a local official in the city where the station is located, he remained loyal to Kiev.
The company added that “according to the testimony of the residents, the bombing was renewed towards the Zaporizhia nuclear plant (…) the time interval between the launch and arrival of the strikes is 3-5 seconds.”
For its part, the authorities, which Russia set up in the areas it controlled in the Zaporizhia region, accused the Ukrainian forces of being behind the strikes.
“Energodar and the Zaporizhia nuclear plant are once again being bombed by militants” of Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the pro-Russian administration, said on Telegram.
He explained that the projectiles fell “in areas located between the banks of the Dnieper River and the station,” without indicating that there were casualties or damage.
The Zaporizhia station has been under bombardment for a week, with the two sides accusing each other of being behind it, which raised fears of a nuclear disaster and called for a meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
On August 5, the strikes hit a high tension line, causing the No. 3 reactor of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant to shut down and emergency generators to start operating.
Thursday’s latest strikes damaged a pumping station and sensors to measure radioactivity.
The Ukrainian authorities, backed by their Western allies, demanded the establishment of a demilitarized zone around Zaporizhia and the withdrawal of Russian forces that have controlled the site since last March.
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