kyiv and Moscow once again exchanged accusations of firing on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, occupied by Russia and targeted several times for a week.
“Limit your presence in the streets of Energodar! We have received information about new provocations from the Russian occupiers, Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said on Telegram, republishing the message from a local leader of Energodar – the city in which the plant is located – who remained loyal in Kyiv.
“According to the testimonies of the inhabitants, bombardments are again in progress in the direction of the nuclear power plant of Zaporijjia […] The interval between the start and the arrival of the shots is 3-5 seconds,” the message adds.
In his daily address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “Russian blackmail” around the nuclear site.
“The occupiers are trying to intimidate people in an extremely cynical way by using the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” said the president, who claims that Russian forces are “hiding” behind the plant to bomb the Ukrainian-controlled towns of Nikopol and Marganets. »
In addition, Mr. Zelensky added that those responsible for the “blackmail” should “be judged before an international court”.
For their part, the occupying authorities installed by Russia in the areas it occupies in the Zaporizhia region unsurprisingly accused the Ukrainian forces of being behind the firing.
“Energodar and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant are again under fire from militants (of Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky,” a member of the pro-Russian military and civil administration, Vladimir Rogov, said on Telegram.
The projectiles fell “in areas located on the banks of the Dnieper and in the power plant”, he said, without reporting any casualties or damage.
The Dnieper River (Dnipro in Ukrainian) separates areas in Russian hands from those controlled by Ukrainian authorities.
Several bombings of which the two parties accuse each other have targeted the Zaporijjia power plant since last week, raising fears of a nuclear disaster and provoking a meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
The first strikes, on August 5, notably hit a high-voltage power line transformer, causing the automatic shutdown of reactor No. 3 of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and the start-up of its emergency generators.
The latest strikes on Thursday damaged a pumping station and sensors for measuring radioactivity.
The Ukrainian authorities, supported by their Western allies, are calling for the demilitarization of the area and the withdrawal of Russian troops who have occupied the site since March.