Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday accused Moscow of resorting to “nuclear terror” and wanting to “repeat” the Chernobyl disaster, after the bombing of a nuclear power plant in central Ukraine, in the midst of a Russian invasion.
“We alert everyone to the fact that no other country apart from Russia has ever fired on nuclear power plants. This is the first time in our history, the first time in the history of mankind. This terrorist state is now resorting to nuclear terror,” he claimed in a video released by the Ukrainian presidency.
“Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors. If there’s an explosion, it’s the end of everything. The end of Europe. It is the evacuation of Europe,” he continued.
“Only immediate European action can stop the Russian troops. We must prevent Europe from dying of a nuclear disaster,” added the Ukrainian president.
According to Kiev, a Russian bombardment hit in the early hours of Friday the atomic power plant of Zaporijjia, the largest in Europe, located in central Ukraine and which has six reactors.
A fire then broke out in a building and a laboratory on the site, but the nuclear safety of the latter is for the time being “assured”, indicated the Ukrainian authorities.
Radioactivity levels remain unchanged at the plant site, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said, citing the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.
On February 24, fighting had already taken place near the former Chernobyl power plant, about a hundred kilometers north of Kiev, which is now in the hands of Russian troops.
“Hundreds of thousands of people suffered the consequences (of Chernobyl), tens of thousands were evacuated. Russia wants to repeat that, and is already repeating that,” Zelesnky said on Friday.