On Sunday, Ukraine accused Russia of attacking the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) for a second consecutive day, leaving a worker injured, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urging the international community for a much-needed “principled response” against Moscow.
During his daily address on Sunday, Zelensky asserted, “There is no such nation in the world that can feel safe when a terrorist state fires at a nuclear plant,” adding that he had apprised European Council President Charles Michel about the threatening situation.
Positively assessed the start of grain export by sea. Coordinated preparations for the Crimea Platform Summit and other events. Emphasized the importance of unblocking the package of macro-financial assistance for Ukraine as soon as possible. (2/2)
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 7, 2022
“God forbid, if something irreparable happens, no one will stop the wind that will spread the radioactive contamination,” he remarked.
However, no radioactive leak has been reported as of now.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company, Energoatom, revealed that the Russian missiles on Saturday hit near a dry storage facility where 174 casks with spent nuclear fuel were kept; the explosion also blew out some windows. The company added that three radiation monitoring detectors were damaged.
It is reported that Russians mined Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 6, 2022
Some sources say they mined the machine hall, others - that the territory around the plant is mined.
Ammunition is stored right beside the energy block.
No need to explain how dangerous this is. pic.twitter.com/StWozzx4ii
“Therefore, timely detection and response in case of aggravation of the radiation situation or leakage of radiation from spent nuclear fuel casks are currently impossible,” it revealed, adding, “This time a nuclear catastrophe was miraculously avoided, but miracles cannot last forever.”
On Monday, Energoatom acknowledged that the attacks had disrupted emergency protection on one of the power units “and one of the three working power units was turned off.” The nitrogen-oxygen station and the combined auxiliary building were also seriously damaged. “There are still risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is also high,” it said.
Ukraine has 15 power plants which supply 50% of its electricity
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) August 7, 2022
Seizing control over power plants, much like Zaporizhzhia, is an effective Russian strategy to destabilize Ukraine's economy and divert electricity to occupied areas
Ukraine has also accused Russia of transporting weapons, equipment, and explosives to the plant, which Russian forces seized in March near the onset of the war. Kyiv also accused Moscow of launching attacks from the plant, which is still run by Ukrainian officials, because “they know very well that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not respond to these attacks, as they can damage the nuclear power plant.”
“There is confirmed information stating that the Russian occupying forces laid mines at the power units of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar,” Andriy Yusov, the spokesperson of the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense addded. In this respect, exiled Enerhodar mayor Dmytro Orlov noted that in the event of an evacuation, ZNPP personnel have no access to a secure location since the Russian troops at the plant appear to be hiding in basements in an effort to protect themselves from Russian shelling.
🇺🇦armed forces shelled the Zaporozhye #NPP with large-caliber artillery. The shells hit the facility distributing electricity to the plant, which's fraught with the risk of its blackout. There's a fire in the area of the shelling as pipelines were damaged.https://t.co/qvvG8lKaIo pic.twitter.com/TzXnzECLoI
— Russia at the United Nations (@RussiaUN) August 5, 2022
However, in sharp contrast, in a statement on Telegram, the chief of Zaporizhzhia’s pro-Russian regional administration, Yevgeny Balitsky, accused Ukrainian forces of targeting the spent fuel storage area and damaging administrative buildings.
Additionally, Vladimir Rogov, a council member of the Zaporizhzhia administration, told TASS on Sunday that the Ukrainian troops had fired “a 220mm rocket of the Uragan Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).”
The @iaeaorg team must go to Zaporizhia just as we did to Chornobyl and South Ukraine earlier in the year. We can put together a safety, security and safeguards mission and deliver the indispensable assistance and impartial assessment that is needed. pic.twitter.com/yc4ZWyknJt
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) August 7, 2022
According to Russia’s Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response, two high-voltage power lines and a water pipeline were damaged because of Ukrainian shelling on Friday, but critical infrastructure was not impacted due to “the effective and timely actions” of the Russian troops at the plant.
Similarly, in a statement at the 8th Plenary Meeting of the 10th NPT Review Conference in New York on Saturday, deputy head of the Russian delegation Igor Vishnevetskii said that Ukrainian forces had targeted “the facility distributing electricity to the plant, which is fraught with the risk of its blackout,” resulting in a fire. “The situation is extremely alarming, fraught with the risk of a man-made disaster at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” he stressed, adding that any untoward accident could lead to a Chernobyl-like disaster.
The EU condemns Russia’s military activities around #Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This is a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms. @iaeaorg must gain access.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 6, 2022
In a similar vein, the Russian Embassy in the United States (US) called the accusations hurled toward Russia a “deliberate” attempt to “discredit” it. “The Ukrainian authorities do not shun anything, creating a real threat to the nuclear security not only of Ukraine, but of Europe as well,” it asserted.
Keeping this in mind, Vishnevetskii appealed to the United Nations (UN) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “to take action so that the shelling of nuclear power plants stops immediately.” “Otherwise, the consequences will be hard to predict,” he underscored.
Other Russian officials have also urged the UN and the IAEA “to condemn the criminal actions of Kyiv” and asked the western media “to stop spreading Russophobic fabrications.”
Ukrainian staff who run the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant & try to ensure its safe operations are real Heroes. They work under huge pressure. Energoatom has just reported that russians occupied all basements & in case of new russian shellings Ukrainians will be in danger
— Olena Halushka (@OlenaHalushka) August 6, 2022
Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi opined that the artillery shelling “underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster” and urged both Ukraine and Russia to “exercise the utmost restraint” near the ZNPP. Saying these developments are “completely unacceptable and must be avoided at all costs,” Grossi stressed that all seven indispensable safety pillars to maintain nuclear safety and security had been “violated” in a statement on Saturday.
Grossi also mentioned the need for an IAEA mission to “stabilise the nuclear safety and security situation” at the ZNPP, which needed “the cooperation, understanding and facilitation from both Ukraine and Russia.” Such missions were also undertaken to secure the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was overtaken by Russian forces early on in the Ukraine war.
The 🇷🇺 shelling & possible mining of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in 🇺🇦 exposes all of us to the risk of disaster. Radiation doesn't know any borders - as we learned after the #Chernobyl accident. Strong actions are needed now to prevent a nuclear catastrophe for Europe. pic.twitter.com/dedvO9kASD
— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) August 7, 2022
Similarly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it “suicidal” and expressed hope that the IAEA “will be able to access the power plant.”
Since the Ukraine invasion began in February, Russia has made it a point to capture essential infrastructure such as power plants, ports, transportation and agricultural storage and production facilities, which has also exacerbated the food security crisis.