Kyiv and Moscow accused each other of carrying out bombings near the compound.
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I amA Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, occupied by Russian troops, is at risk of “radioactive material spewing,” a Ukrainian public operator warned Saturday.
According to Energoatom, Russian troops shelled the site “repeatedly over the past day”. “As a result of periodic bombings, the plant’s infrastructure has been damaged and there are risks of hydrogen leakage and sprinkling of radioactive materials,” the Ukrainian Nuclear Energy Agency said in a telegram, adding that there was a “high fire risk.”
According to the operator, since Saturday afternoon local time, the plant has been “operating with the risk of exceeding safety standards in terms of radiation and fire”.
Mutual accusations
Russia, for its part, has accused Ukraine of shelling Zaporozhye in the past 24 hours. In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that Ukrainian artillery fired 17 bombs on the power plant, the largest in Europe.
“Four (bombs) fell on the roof of Special Building No. 1, which houses 168 US nuclear fuel assemblies from Westinghouse,” he said, adding that the remaining bombs fell 30 meters above the ground. A used fuel depot and another nearby with “new fuel”.
According to the Russian military, the Ukrainian army is firing from around the town of Marhanet, which faces the plant, on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River, still under Kiev control. AFP was unable to verify these reports from an independent source.
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