Safety at Ukraine power plant 'deteriorating' after drone strike threatens disaster at Europe's largest nuclear facility
17 August 2024, 22:58 | Updated: 17 August 2024, 23:52
The safety of Europe's largest nuclear facility is under threat after the United Nation's watchdog warned that the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant is “deteriorating” after a nearby drone strike.
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Russia - whose forces have occupied the plant since the early stages of its war with Ukraine - accused Kyiv of dropping an explosive charge on a road near the plant in southern Ukraine on Saturday.
The plant has been under repeated attacks throughout the conflict with both sides accusing each other of carrying out highly dangerous procedures that threaten nuclear disaster.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were warned of detonation near essential plant facilities on Saturday.
They immediately visited the area, the IAEA confirmed and reported that damage “seemed to have been caused by a drone equipped with an explosive payload” affecting the road between the plant’s two main gates.
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“Yet again we see an escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” the IAEA head, Rafael Grossi, said in the statement.
“I remain extremely concerned and reiterate my call for maximum restraint from all sides."
Authorities warned that the “nuclear safety situation” at the plant was “deteriorating” following the “intense” military activity seen in the area over the past weeks - including very close to the plant.
“The team has heard frequent explosions, repetitive heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and artillery at various distances from the plant,” it added.
The IAEA has repeatedly urged restraint throughout Russia's war in Ukraine as it fears reckless military action from either side could trigger a serious nuclear accident at the plant.
A fire broke out at one of the plant's cooling towers last week with Kyiv and Moscow subsequently trading blame over the incident.
IAEA experts were not able to visit the base of the cooling tower at the time but have since requested further access to assess the situation, the nuclear watchdog said.
The fire caused “considerable damage” but there was no significant threat to nuclear safety, the agency confirmed.
Earlier on Saturday a Russian missile strike sparked a blaze in the Ukrainian city of Sumy as Ukrainian forces continued to push into Russia's Kursk border region.
Two people were injured in the Sumy strike, which also damaged cars and nearby buildings, said Ukraine's State Emergency Service. It said that the hit had involved an Iskander-K cruise missile and an aerial bomb.
Ukraine's air force also said it had shot down 14 Russian drones overnight, including over the Kyiv region.
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 6 in a bid to divert the Kremlin's military focus away from the front line in Ukraine.
Alexander Kots, military correspondent with the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, said that Ukrainian pressure in Kursk "is not weakening yet".
"In the main sections of the ragged front, the situation has stabilised. But there are areas where the enemy continues to try to expand its bridgehead," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Ukraine had destroyed a bridge across the Seim River in the Glushkovsky district with US-made HIMARS rockets, marking their first use in the Kursk region.
Ms Zakharova's statement could not be independently confirmed, although the Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said that geo-located footage published on August 16 showed that the bridge had collapsed following the strike.
Russian military bloggers said that the destruction of bridges would impede deliveries of supplies to Russian forces, but not cut them off completely.
"No one has cancelled the pontoons," said Mr Kots, stressing that the Seim River is smaller than Ukrainian waterways such as the Dnieper River. "And there are still smaller bridges."
Russia has seen previous raids on its territory in the war, but the Kursk incursion is notable for its size, speed, the reported involvement of battle-hardened Ukrainian brigades and the length of time they have stayed inside Russia. As many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops are involved, according to Western military analysts.
