Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of storing heavy weapons and ammunition at the site of the occupied nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, in the south of the country, where Moscow denounced drone strikes.
According to Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear energy operator, at least 14 units of heavy military equipment with their ammunition are stored in the engine room of reactor No. 1 of the plant, the largest in Europe.
“The whole of the heavy arsenal brought with all the ammunition is now very close to the equipment which ensures the operation of the turbo-generator”, the company was alarmed on its Telegram channel.
The Russian equipment is located in the immediate vicinity of the main oil tank, whose flammable product is used to cool the steam turbine, as is the hydrogen used to cool the generator, according to Energoatom.
The Ukrainian company was alarmed by a risk of accidental detonation and fire.
Russia had earlier accused Ukraine of carrying out drone strikes on the site of this nuclear power plant, occupied by Moscow since March.
“This confirms the will of the Ukrainian authorities to create the conditions for a nuclear disaster not only on their territory, but throughout Europe,” said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, during her weekly press conference.
However, it did not report any damage endangering the nuclear safety of the site.
According to her, Ukrainian forces carried out a drone strike on Monday “a few tens of meters from structures vital to the safety of the plant, a tank of spent nuclear fuel and the cooling tank of a reactor”.
The spokeswoman added that Kyiv hit the site again on Wednesday. Russian media published supposed images of plumes of smoke in the city of Energodar, where the plant is located.
AFP could not verify the Ukrainian accusations, nor those of Russia, from an independent source.
Maria Zakharova claimed that Moscow contacted the secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency after these two incidents.
Last week, Energoatom had already accused the Russian army of having installed missile launchers on the site of the Zaporijjia power plant. According to the firm, about 500 Russian soldiers are on site.
When the plant was taken over in early March, the Russian army opened fire on buildings on the site, already raising the risk of a major nuclear accident.