Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was seized by Moscow immediately after the war began six months ago. Russia also holds neighboring territory along the left bank of the great Dnieper River, while Ukraine maintains control of the right bank, including two cities, Nikopol and Marhanets, each about six miles from the plant.
Periodic explosions have damaged the power plant’s infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s nuclear power company.
“There are risks of hydrogen leakage and release of radioactive substances and the risk of fire is high,” Energoatom said on Saturday.
Homes destroyed by Russian shelling in the town of Orikhiv near the Zaporizhzhia power station August 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dmytro Smolienko
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed the entire continent was at risk because Russia was turning the plant into a military base.
“For decades, nuclear security has remained Ukraine’s top priority, especially given our tragic past. Russian invaders turned the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant into a military base putting the entire continent at risk,” he tweeted. “The Russian army must get out of the factory – they have nothing to do there!”
Residents living near the plant began receiving iodine tablets last week in case they were exposed to dangerous radiation.
Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at the start of the invasion.Planet Labs PBC via AP
If the plant’s cooling system for the nuclear reactors fails, it could lead to a nuclear meltdown. The plant was briefly shut down Thursday due to fire damage to a transmission line, officials said.
The US State Department said on Sunday that Moscow refused to acknowledge the risk at the plant and blocked a draft nuclear non-proliferation agreement because that risk was raised.
While Russia owns the factory, workers in Ukraine have continued to manage it. Both countries have pointed the finger at each other for ongoing attacks near the compound.
A man clears debris from his home in Nikopol, Ukraine, after a Russian bombing on August 22, 2022.AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said on Sunday that Ukraine had shelled the plant twice in the last day, with some of the shells landing near buildings that store reactor fuel and radioactive waste.
Meanwhile, fighting in the region overnight left parts of the Ukrainian city of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentin Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The rockets also damaged about a dozen houses in Marchanets, said Yeven Yevtushenko, head of the district administration that includes the city.
A building destroyed by Russian shelling in Sloviansk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region August 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
About 25 miles upriver from the nuclear plant, the city of Zaporizhzhia also experienced a fire overnight, injuring two people, according to city council member Anatoliy Kurten.
Across the river from the plant, the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant and the nearby town were hit by Ukrainian missiles three times on Sunday, according to Vladimir Leontyev, head of the local administration based in Russia.
The factory dam is a critical road along the river and possibly a key supply route for Russian forces.
Shelling has hit the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine as Russian and separatist forces try to take over the region. No casualties were reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region.
A Sloviansk resident told The Associated Press as he fell asleep, an explosion ripped through his apartment windows.
“I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying above me, the frame and pieces of broken glass,” said Konstiantyn Daineko.
Much of the Donetsk region is held by Russian and separatist forces. It is one of two regions of Ukraine that Russia views as sovereign states.
With Post cables
