Fire in the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant – Russia and Ukraine blame each other – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi accuses Russia of being behind the fire at the nuclear power plant, writes Reuters. Zelenskyj claims that Russian forces set fire to the area near the cooling towers of the power plant, which is located in Russian-occupied territory. Fire at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP A local official in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol, overlooking the plant, says Russian forces set fire to one of the cooling towers. He urged residents to remain calm, writes Reuters. Ukrainian media have suggested that the fire may be an act of revenge after Ukrainian forces launched a series of attacks about 30 kilometers into the Kursk region in Russia in the past week. Russian Foreign Ministry: Ukraine will spread “nuclear terror” The authorities in Moscow reject the accusations, and claim that Ukraine is behind the fire. The Russian-appointed governor Yevgeny Balitsky claims that a Ukrainian attack triggered the fire. Spokesperson in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. Photo: AP It is said to have happened when Ukrainian forces fired at the nearby town of Enerhodar, a town occupied by Russian forces. That is what Balitskij tells Reuters. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia, Maria Zakharova, goes the furthest in her criticism of Ukraine. She accuses Kyiv of deliberately trying to destroy the nuclear power plant and that the Ukrainian authorities want to create “nuclear terror”. IAEA suggests drone attack The International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA says that no nuclear leakage has been reported after the fire. – Our team was told by employees at the nuclear power plant that it was probably an attack with a drone that did not solve the fire. A cooling tower was hit, they report according to Reuters. One of the cooling towers at the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya has been damaged. This is reported by both the Russian and Ukrainian authorities, according to Reuters. President Zelenskyy says he fears future nuclear leaks. – Now the radiation indicators show that everything is normal. But as long as Russian terrorists have control over the nuclear power plant, the situation will not be normal, says Zelenskyj. The main fire extinguished The largest fire near the power plant was reported extinguished at midnight on Monday night. The information that the main fire has been extinguished comes from a Russian official on the night of Monday. A few hours earlier, the state-run Russian news agency Tass also reported that the main fire had been extinguished and pointed to the state-run nuclear energy company Rosatom. The six reactors close to the front line are not in operation. But the nuclear power plant depends on continuous power to cool the nuclear material and thus prevent a disaster. Published 12.08.2024, at 07.09 Updated 12.08.2024, at 07.39



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