After Russia’s attack: Fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant

Status: 04.03.2022 05:13

Russia has attacked the country’s largest nuclear power plant, according to Ukrainian sources. As a result of the fighting, the fire spread to the site. However, according to initial reports, the radiation should not be emitted.

After massive attacks on the main cities of Kharkov, Mariupol and Kyiv, the Russian military struck the country’s electricity supply overnight. Local authorities clashed with Russian troops in the early hours of the morning, claiming that Europe – Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant – Ukraine gets a quarter of its energy from there.

Local authorities announced bombings on the nuclear plant, and the nuclear plant was fired upon by heavy artillery. A block of the power plant was attacked, where a fire broke out, plant spokesman Andre Tuss said in a video released in the Telegram. Although the damaged reactor has not been refurbished and is operational, it does contain nuclear fuel. Firefighters could not get close to the fire as they would be shot. “We demand that they (the troops) stop firing heavy weapons,” Tuz said. “Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is a real threat.”

Probably no radiation leak

Apparently, the radiation had not yet left the facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Twitter this morning that the Ukrainian Atomic Energy Agency had declared “no change in radiation levels” at the site of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. As recently as Thursday, the IAEA expressed serious concern that the fighting could inadvertently damage 15 of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors.

According to US Energy Secretary Genever Granholm, the power plant’s nuclear reactors are now safely shut down. “There are no high levels of radiation near the facility,” Granholm wrote on Twitter. The furnaces are protected by a strong protective cover.

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NATO support request

Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko has called on NATO to intervene. In view of the attack on the nuclear power plant, Halushchenko wrote on Facebook that “not only a professional assessment of the events, but also real intervention with drastic measures, including NATO and nuclear-armed nations, is needed.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba called for an immediate end to the attacks. “If it explodes, it will be 10 times bigger than Chernobyl! The Russians must stop firing immediately,” he wrote on Twitter.

Conflicting parties as a source

Information on war, shelling and casualties provided by the official organizations of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body in the current situation.

Biden warns that London has called a meeting of the UN Security Council

US President Joe Biden has called on Russia to suspend its military operations in the vicinity of the plant. The White House says Biden over the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky asked about the “current state of the fire” at the nuclear plant. The Russian military should allow firefighters and rescue workers to enter the area, Biden said.

In response, Great Britain called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said last night that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “irresponsible” behavior “directly threatens security across Europe.”

Attack on major cities in Ukraine

A few hours ago, the Russian military again expanded its offensive against Ukrainian cities. During the Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of more than one million people Kharkiv At least 34 civilians were killed in and around the area on Wednesday and Thursday, according to local officials. According to the regional civil defense, 285 people were injured, including 10 children. The information cannot be verified independently. Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, is located near the Russian border. It has been a target of Russian aggression since the beginning of the war.

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In Kiev There were several severe explosions Thursday night. The air alarm was triggered, according to the Union Agency. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko wrote in a telegram: “The enemy is trying to enter the capital.” According to Ukrainian civil servants, Russian troops set up camps in the north and northwest of Kiev, 20 to 30 kilometers from the city limits. According to international observers, the Russian military contingent in Moscow is advancing much slower than planned.

Port city of southern Ukraine Like Mariupol With about 440,000 people, there is no water, heat or electricity after the airstrikes, according to local officials. The city of strategic importance is now openly surrounded.

Meanwhile, there is a comprehensive situation in the southern capital Cerson Not clear. The Ukrainian army abandoned the city. “We have no Ukrainian armed forces in the city, only peaceful residents want to live here!” Mayor Ihor Kolyshev wrote the night. Local officials said Russian occupiers were present in all parts of the southern port city of Chernivtsi. Gershon will be the first major Ukrainian city under the new Russian control.

A Russian airstrike on Chernihiv has killed at least 33 people

Russian invasion of residential areas in the city Chernihiv According to Ukrainian sources, 33 people were killed in northern Ukraine. A further 18 people were injured, city emergency services said. Earlier, 22 people were reported dead. According to reports, two schools and a high-rise apartment building were attacked.

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Regina Kuzak, deputy mayor of the city of Chernihiv, told the AFP news agency that Chernihiv, 120 kilometers from Kiev, had been the target of a Russian “bombing”. Governor Vyacheslav Tschaus had previously spoken of a Russian airstrike that struck two schools and residential buildings in the Staraya Podusivka district. Chernihiv and the area of ​​the same name are located northeast of the capital Kiev

OSCE wants to investigate potential war crimes

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced on Thursday that an international panel of experts would be appointed in Ukraine to “investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding war crimes and crimes against humanity.” According to the United Nations, 249 civilians were killed and 553 injured in the first week of the conflict. It was Wednesday from Ukraine More than 2,000 civilians were killed Spoken.

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