The mayor of Energodar, where the station is located, Dmytro Orlov, told AFP: “What is happening there is outright nuclear terrorism and may end unpredictably at any moment … the danger increases every day.”
He added, “The situation is serious, and what is most worrying is the lack of any de-escalation process.”
Russian forces have taken control of the Zaporizhia station since the early days of the military operation in Ukraine.
The facility was bombed several times this week, while Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of escalation.
Ukraine accused Russia of deploying troops and weapons at the station, launching attacks and using the atomic station as a shield to prevent Ukrainian soldiers from responding.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russian soldiers who shoot at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant or use it as a firing base that they will become “special targets” of his country’s forces.
“Every Russian soldier, whether he shoots at the station or shoots using the station as a cover, must understand that he becomes a special target for our intelligence agents, our special services and our army,” he said.
The station is located on the south bank of a large basin on the Dnipro River.
Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mikhailo Podolyak, accused Russia of “bombing a part of the nuclear power plant responsible for generating energy that supplies electricity to southern Ukraine.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is seeking to inspect the plant, has also warned of a nuclear disaster unless the fighting stops.
Nuclear experts fear the fighting could damage the plant’s spent fuel pools or reactors.
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