Ukraine must prepare for “all scenarios” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops and subjected to repeated shelling, the Ukrainian Interior Minister warned on Wednesday.
Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of these attacks, which have targeted Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, under the control of the Russian army since March, raising the specter of a major disaster in Europe.
“No one could have foreseen that Russian troops were going to fire on nuclear reactors using tanks. It was unheard of”, accused Denys Monastyrsky during a trip to Zaporijjia, a southern city located about fifty kilometers in a straight line from this facility.
Exercises to anticipate a nuclear accident
After attending first aid exercises in the event of a nuclear accident, he declared that “we must prepare for all possible scenarios”, accusing Russia of being a “terrorist state. (…) As long as Russia controls the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, there is big risks.”
Dozens of Ukrainian rescuers took part in this exercise in scorching heat on Wednesday. Equipped with gas masks and protective clothing with dosimeters, they trained to evacuate the injured and clean contaminated vehicles.
Ukraine has been accusing Moscow for weeks of storing heavy weapons at the Zaporizhia power plant and using it as a base for attacks on Ukrainian positions. He also assures that the Russian forces are shooting at the power plant they occupy to accuse Kyiv of these bombings.
Russia, for its part, claims that Kyiv has repeatedly attacked, including using drones, the nuclear power plant, setting fires.
Source: BFM TV
