Russia launched massive airstrikes against Ukraine on Thursday, the biggest in weeks, killing at least nine people and causing power outages, including the temporary interruption of supply of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
A few hours after the attacks, the Ukrainian electricity operator Ukrenergo announced the reconnection to the national grid of that power plant occupied by Russian forces for a year and ruled out the risk of a nuclear incident.
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The cut had previously triggered the alarms of the UN nuclear body and the European Union. “We are playing with fire,” warned the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The attack constitutes “a serious violation of nuclear security, committed by Russia,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
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The interruption of power supply forced the plant to be cooled with diesel generators, which “increased the risk of a nuclear accident” until reconnection with the power grid, it added.
In Transnistria, a secessionist territory of Moldova, the pro-Russian authorities said they foiled an attack against its leaders and accused Ukraine of having orchestrated it. In the evening, they announced that they would call for a UN investigation.
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“Russian retaliation”
Russia said the strikes, using its new Kinjal hypersonic missiles, were in “retaliation” for a March 2 raid on its territory by Ukrainian “spoilers.”
He Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky denounced Russia’s “miserable tactics” after the bombardment, which affected ten regions of the country and kyiv, the capital, targeting energy infrastructure. The United States called those attacks “brutal and unjustified.”
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According to the Ukrainian army, the anti-aircraft defense shot down 34 of the 81 missiles launched by Moscow, as well as four Iranian-made Shahed drone explosives. None of the six Kinjal missiles used by the Russians could be shot down, according to kyiv.
Russia regularly bombs Ukrainian energy facilitiesplunging millions of people into darkness and cold, but those attacks had become less frequent in recent weeks.
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