Ukrainian Energy Secretary German Galushchenko on Monday warned that the "world is once again on the brink of nuclear disaster" amid heavy shelling on Europe's largest nuclear power plant's last transmission line.
The official posted a written message on Facebook on Monday where he said that the majority of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission has left the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as the station is once again "depleted."
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Galushchenko said that the last line connecting the power plant with the energy system of Ukraine - LEP 330 kW Zates - Fresplavna - separated due to the fire that occurred as a result of shelling. The minister of energy added that any repair of the lines was now impossible as there are combat operations around the station.
"The world is once again on the brink of nuclear disaster. De-occupying the UPP and creating a demilitarized zone around it is the only way to ensure nuclear security," said Galushchenko. On the other hand, Energoatom, the facility's operator, released a statement saying that Russian forces have kept up "intensive shelling" of the area around Zaporizhzhia in recent days, as per Fox News.
A former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) intelligence officer, Rebekah Koffler, said that the situation is really dangerous and noted that it was not only the Ukrainians who were concerned. The former intelligence officer said that international experts in nuclear security have been worried for the past several months, noting that structurally, the plant is degraded to the point where it is on its last leg.
On Saturday, the IAEA said that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant had lost its main line to the grid, but was still sending power through a reserve line. The developments on Monday came a day before UN inspectors were due to report on their efforts to avert a potential disaster at the site.
According to Aljazeera, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the new cutoff of power had placed the nuclear power plant for a second time "a step away from a radiation catastrophe."
Russia vs. Ukraine
The situation at the nuclear power plant comes as Ukraine claims battlefield gains against Russia's military forces. Following days of silence, Ukrainian officials posted an image online of three soldiers raising a flag over a town in Kherson province, a southern region occupied by Moscow's troops since the early days of the war.
The photograph showed the flag being fixed to a pole on a rooftop, purportedly in Vysokopullya in the north of Kherson. Zelensky released the image and said that Ukrainian forces had captured two towns in the south and one in the east. However, he did not identify the locations in his nightly address.
The Ukrainian leader also claimed that his country's military had destroyed an important Russian ammunition depot where S-300 missiles were being kept. In a statement, Zelensky thanked his military forces and service personnel who he said were doing everything to make it more difficult for the Russian occupiers to stay in Ukraine every single day, CNN reported.
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