• Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Europe’s largest nuclear plant Zaporizhzhia catches fire after Russian attack

    International
    Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Europe’s largest nuclear plant Zaporizhzhia catches fire after Russian attack

    “Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.


     

    Digital Desk: Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia is on fire as a result of a Russian attack, Ukraine’s foreign minister said on Friday, calling for a security zone and firefighters to be permitted to deal with the disaster.

    Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video of the nuclear power plant’s fire shortly after the news of the incident broke.



    “Zaporizhzhia NPP under fire...” he captioned the video.

    According to the RIA news agency, the Ukrainian atomic energy ministry said on Friday that a generating unit of the plant was hit during an attack by Russian soldiers, and that part of the station is on fire.



    “Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

    Meanwhile, IAEA Director-General Rafael MarianoGrossi speaks with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal and the country’s nuclear regulator and operator, urging a halt to the use of force and warns of grave danger if reactors are hit.

    The mayor of the neighbouring town of Energodar claimed in an online post that there had been severe fighting in the area about 550 kilometres (342 miles) southeast of Kyiv. He added that there had been casualties but did not elaborate about it.



    Russia has already taken control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power station, located around 100 kilometres north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.