Russian troops occupied the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and Europe on Fridayafter an attack that caused a fire without consequences in radioactivity levels, but that paralyzed the world in fear of a new atomic catastrophe.
(Read here: The UN approves commission to investigate Russian war crimes in Ukraine)
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Russian shells hit the facilities of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday located about 150 kilometers north of the Crimean peninsula, sparking a fire in a building and a laboratory.
After a few hours of alarm, in which the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenski warned of a possible disaster “ten times bigger than Chernobyl”, in reference to the catastrophic nuclear accident of 1986 in that country, the relief services were able to extinguish the flames, according to the Kiev authorities.
“There have been no changes in the radiation situation,” said Ukraine’s atomic plant inspection agency, which confirmed that Russian forces had occupied the territory of the plant.
Of the six blocks, the first was put out of service, numbers 2, 3, 5 and 6 are in the cooling process and 4 is operational, he said.
Zelensky claimed that it was Russian tanks that opened fire. “These tanks are equipped with thermal sights, so they know what they’re doing, they were prepared,” he said.
“We must prevent Europe from dying of a nuclear disaster,” the president said, calling for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
The Russian attack caused shock in the world.
US President Joe Biden immediately communicated with his Ukrainian counterpart, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned Russia’s “irresponsibility” on Friday.
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The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Argentine Rafael Grossi, offered on Friday to travel to the Chernobyl plant and negotiate with Ukraine and Russia guarantees for the safety of Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
What does Russia say?
Russia denied having attacked the Zaporizhia plant with tanks, artillery and rockets, and denounced that the incident at this facility was a “provocation” carried out by a Ukrainian sabotage group.
“The goal of the Kiev regime’s provocation at this nuclear facility was the attempt to accuse Russia of creating a source of radioactive contamination,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
At dawn, he said, a Russian patrol was attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage group. With the aim of causing fire against the building, they were attacked from the various windows of the central training center. Konashenkov added that the Russian military responded to “Ukrainian saboteurs”, whom he accused of starting the fire as they retreated.
UN Tranquility Part
The director general of the UN nuclear agency, the Argentine Rafael Grossi, criticized that the security of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been compromised by a Russian attack, but reassured that there have been no radioactive leaks.
(In other news: Russian troops occupied the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine)
“Security has been compromised with what happened last night, we are lucky there was no radiation leak,” Grossi told a news conference in Vienna, expressing great concern that the situation is “unprecedented.”
Grossi assured that the projectile that hit the nuclear power plant came from Russian forces and reiterated the danger of fighting near these complexes given their great fragility. Several international leaders have warned of the danger of attacking certain facilities, such as nuclear power plants, due to the consequences they can generate.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the attack on the Zaporizhia plant shows the “recklessness” of this war and the need for Russia to withdraw its troops.
And the high representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, warned of the “catastrophic” effects that Russian attacks near nuclear power plants in Ukraine can have and urged them to stop “immediately”.
The head of European diplomacy joined the “emergency” appeal launched by the United Nations and remarked that the bombings and the consequent fire last night at the Zaporizhia plant “could endanger all of Europe.”
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP and Efe
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