Three strikes were reported in 24 hours near a nuclear reactor, according to the Ukrainian national operator. Moscow blames the Ukrainian armed forces in return.
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Posted on 08/05/2022 19:05 Updated on 08/06/2022 08:02
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kyiv accuses the Russian army of having carried out artillery strikes near the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, under Russian occupation since the start of the war. “The high-voltage power supply line” has been damaged, specifies a press release (in Ukrainian) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday 5 August. “The possible consequences of an impact on an operating reactor are equivalent to the use of an atomic bomb.”
“Three strikes were reported on Friday evening near one of the nuclear reactors”, announced, for its part, the Ukrainian state company Energoatom, which manages the country’s nuclear power plants. “There are risks of hydrogen leakage and spraying of radioactive substances. The danger of fire is high,” according to the same source, which did not report any casualties at first. Also according to the Ukrainian operator, the managers of the Russian company Rosatom “hastily left the site before the attack”.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry again calls on the international community to take “immediate steps to force Russia out of the plant”, and to transfer it “under Ukrainian control in the interest of world security entire”. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday that the situation was “volatile” at the Zaporizhia power plant was becoming “more and more dangerous day by day”.
The Russian army Moscow, for its part, claims that “Ukrainian shells” damaged a hydrogen pipe at the plant, causing a fire which was quickly brought under control. “By a happy coincidence, the Ukrainian shells did not target a nearby oxygen plant, preventing a larger fire from breaking out and a radioactive accident from occurring”, assures the communicated. The Russian army also evokes a blackout and a disruption of the water supply.
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