The Ukrainians are worried about the future of the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, taken by Moscow at the start of the conflict, and claim that Russia has massed soldiers there. According to local authorities, several missiles were even fired from the plant.
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According to the Ukrainian authorities, a new incident at the Zaporijia nuclear power plant killed several people and injured nine on Monday, July 18. The Ukrainian authorities warn of the danger posed by this site, located in southern Ukraine. With six reactors, it is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which fell under Russian control in March. And according to kyiv, it’s a real time bomb.
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“The situation (at the plant) is extremely tense and the tension is increasing day by day“, writes on Telegram, Petro Kotin, the president of Energoatom, the agency that manages nuclear power plants in Ukraine. According to him, up to 500 Russian soldiers are present on the site. This is also what Dmitry claims Orlov, the mayor of Enerhodar, the town where the employees of the nuclear power plant live: “The invaders are using the plant as a fortress”according to the elected official.
“The Russians know that the Ukrainian armed forces will not retaliate, as long as their weapons are at the foot of the nuclear power plant.”
Dmitry Orlov, Mayor of Enerhodarat franceinfo
According to Dmitry Orlov, the mayor of Enerhodarseveral missiles were sent from the plant towards Nikopol, the city located on the other side of the river.
The mayor even accuses Russia of “nuclear terrorism attempts“: “These activities can have consequences that our country has already experienced, I am thinking of Chernobyl. What will happen next?“
Already in early March, the Ukrainian authorities had alerted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after a night of clashes on the site of the plant. But this agency has not been able to go there since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, because this area is a strategic point for both Ukrainians and Russians.