Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station is located across a river from the locations that Russian rocket and artillery strikes, according to officials, raising concerns about radioactive leaks and potential disaster.
The biggest nuclear power facility in Europe, Zaporizhzhia, was taken over by Moscow not long after the conflict started six months ago. Along the wide Dnieper River's left bank, Russia also controls nearby land, while Ukraine retains control of the right bank, which includes two cities, Nikopol and Marhanets, each about six miles from the plant.
Russia Admits Using Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as Military Base
The infrastructure of the power plant has been harmed, claims Ukraine's nuclear power operator. Considering our sad past, nuclear safety has remained Ukraine's top concern for decades. The entire continent is in danger because Russian invaders converted Zaporizhzhya NPP into a military facility, he claimed on Twitter. "Russian soldiers must leave the facility immediately; they have no business there! "
Oleksandr Starukh, the regional governor, reported on Telegram on Sunday that Russian forces had attacked homes in the town of Orikhiv, located further east, as well as Zaporizhzhia, the region's largest city, which is roughly a two-hour drive from the plant. Last week, iodine tablets were distributed to nearby residents in case they were exposed to harmful radiation, as per New York Post .
In its daily report, the Ukrainian military noted that nine additional towns on the other side of the Dnipro River from the plant had been shelled, while the Russian RIA news agency cited the Russian defense ministry as saying that its air force had struck a Motor Sich (MSICH.UAX) plant in the area where helicopters were being repaired.
Russian authorities claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone that was attempting to assault the plant's nuclear waste storage facility. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, reported that nine shells fired by Ukrainian artillery in two consecutive attacks fell on the grounds of the nuclear plant.
The radiation situation in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant "remains normal," he said in a statement. "At present, the full-time technical personnel are monitoring the technical condition of the nuclear facility and assuring its operation."
To prevent it from becoming a target, the United Nations and Kyiv have demanded the removal of military hardware and personnel from the factory. Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, claimed that Russian personnel had no business being at the plant since they had converted it into a military post and put the security of the entire continent in danger, according to Reuters.
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Zelensky Warns Against Danger in Zaporizhzhia
A day after it took hours to reconnect two of its reactors to the grid after shelling cut them off, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned on Friday that the situation at Zaporizhzhia remained extremely perilous. According to the Kyiv military's daily report, Ukrainian soldiers on the eastern front of the country stopped the most recent Russian effort to advance on the town of Sloviansk.
In a late-afternoon update, it was noted that Ukrainian forces had also withstood Russian attempts to strike from three sides, including the vicinity of Bakhmut and the coal-producing town of Avdiivka. On February 24, President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of an invasion of Russia's neighbor, claiming that a "special operation" was required to demilitarize the nation and eliminate potential security risks to Russia.
This has been dismissed by Ukraine and the West as an empty pretext for an imperialist war of conquest that has killed thousands of people, uprooted tens of millions of people, reduced cities to rubble, and threatened the world economy with a crisis in the supply of food and energy, driving up prices, SBS reported.
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