A Russian soldier guards the Zaporizhia plant. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of bombing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Photo: REUTERS
Russia went out on Monday to respond to Kiev and accused Ukrainian forces of bomb the Zaporizhia nuclear power plantthe largest in Europe and which is under Russian control in Ukraine.
Since Friday, Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attacks at the Zaporizhia plant, located in southern Ukraine and taken over by the Russians since March. No independent source has so far been able to confirm the veracity of the allegations.
The bombing of the plant “by the Ukrainian armed forces” is “potentially extremely dangerous” and may “have done so”. catastrophic consequences for a large area, including the European territory “, warned the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was attacked at the start of the Russian occupation, causing concern. Photo: REUTERS
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that the last attack on Sunday morning it had damaged a power line which supplies electricity to two Ukrainian regions.
The head of the Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom, Petro Kotin, called on Monday to evacuate the Russian occupiers and create a “demilitarized zone” around the plant.
“There should be a peacekeeping mission that also includes experts from the IAEA [Organismo Internacional de la Energía Atómica] and other security organizations, “he continued in a video posted on Telegram.
In his opinion, “about 500 soldiers and 50 heavy vehicles, tanks and trucks” occupy the Zaporizhia plant. In addition, two Ukrainian employees were injured in the attacks, he said.
“There is no nation in the world that can feel safe when a terrorist state bombs a nuclear power plant,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted Sunday in his daily speech.
The IAEA said on Saturday that the attacks represented “the latest in a long series of increasingly alarming information“After the attack on Friday, one of the reactors had to be shut down.
When the Russian military seized the plant a few days after invading Ukraine on February 24, they opened fire on one of the buildings, increasing the risk of a nuclear accident.
“Any attack on a nuclear power plant is suicidalUN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned Monday in Tokyo.
“I hope those attacks end and, at the same time, I hope the IAEA can access the facility,” he added.
Grain exports continue
As part of the agreements signed on July 22 between Kyiv and Moscow to resume Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea, another merchant ship sailed on Monday from Pivdenny, one of the three designated ports in the pacts along with Chornomorsk and Odessa.
The Polarnet ship successfully completed the first Ukrainian grain export by arriving at the port of Safiport Derince in Turkey. Photo: REUTERS
The ship left with 60,000 tons of grain. In total, eight freighters have already sailed from Ukraine loaded with grain.
“In the next two weeks, we hope to reach speeds of between three and five ships per day,” said the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure.
About 20 million tons of grain have been blocked in the ports of the Odessa region by the presence of Russian warships and mines placed by Kiev to defend its coast.
The suspension of exports triggered a rise in food prices in poorer countries and raised fears of a global food crisis.
Despite this diplomatic advance, the fighting does not stop on the ground. Kyiv announced that Ukrainian forces have again attacked an important bridge in Kherson, occupied by Russian troops, early Monday morning.
The Antonovski Bridge, located on the Dnieper River on the outskirts of Kherson, is key to citizen supply as it is the only one that connects the southern bank of the Dnieper with the rest of the occupied Kherson region.
Kherson, the capital of the region of the same name, is located a few kilometers from the front, where Ukrainian forces have been announcing for several weeks a counter-offensive aimed at recovering the territories lost in the first days of the invasion.
The region is strategic as it borders the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014. Occupying Kherson, Russia was able to connect both territories.
Moscow also holds the town of Melitopol, about 200 kilometers to the east, where US HIMARS missiles struck Russian forces on Monday, according to the city’s mayor, Ivan Fedorov.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky acknowledged that the situation is still “very difficult in Donbas (east), in the Kharkov region and in the south, where the occupation forces are trying to concentrate their forces”.
Source: AFP
Source: Clarin
