HomeWorldUkraine: Nuclear power plant fire extinguished, Site now under Russian control

Ukraine: Nuclear power plant fire extinguished, Site now under Russian control

Reports came out on Friday morning informing about the Russian attack on the nuclear power plant facility, where a video of the scene was shared showing bursts of gunfire supposedly aimed at the Zaporizhzhia facility. Flames were seen in video footage, although it was unclear where the fire was and what was the scale of threat to the facility.

The Russian government later on claimed in a video brief that the provocation from the Ukrainian forces had led to a firefight in the area close to the nuclear power plant.

In the video, the Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov said that the Russian forces took hold of the city of Enerhodar, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the area near to it on the 28th of February. He said that the plant’s technical staff carried on their usual work on the nuclear facilities, but the Ukrainian forces attempted a provocation in the early hours of Friday, which led to the firefight. Konashenkov went on to claim that it was the Ukrainians that had set fire to the training building.

The Russian government has time and again claimed that the Ukrainian government is staging “provocations” to ensue military response from the Western governments. This is the second nuclear plant to come under threat from the Russian invasion, after the Russian forces seized control of the Chernobyl power plant on the very first day of the assault.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a statement said that it was informed by Ukrainian officials that its’ staff was held at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant since Russian military forces took control of the site a week ago and were facing psychological pressure and moral exhaustion.

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate (SNRI) released a statement on Friday morning confirming that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was occupied by Russian military forces. The statement further said that the officials remained in contact with plant management.

The six reactors of the power plant are intact, though the auxiliary buildings for the reactor unit 1 had been damaged, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate clarified in the release. Four of the units are being cooled down while one unit in operation to provide power, the statement further said. The staff was admitted in the morning to perform their regular duties.

Earlier, Ukraine’s State Emergency Services (SES) had confirmed that several firefighters extinguished a fire that had started, because of the shelling from Russian military forces, in a training building outside the main reactor complex.

World Reacts to developments at Nuclear Power Plant

Countries around the world have condemned the developments at the Nuclear Complex. The United States embassy in Ukraine tweeted that any attack on a nuclear plant was a war crime.

Reports of fire in the nuclear power plant area raised concerns among the world leaders and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who called to stop fighting in and around the nuclear facility area.

A Russian projectile had hit a building within the nuclear facility, causing a limited fire, but none of the reactors have been affected and radiation monitoring systems are fully functional.

As per the reports, the Ukrainian staff at the nuclear power plant is still overseeing the operations of the plant, but the control of the site was with the Russian forces, Grossi said.

Grossi said that he had warned both the sides that utmost restraint should be exercised in and around such facilities, because knowingly or unknowingly, the situation can quickly spiral into a disaster.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, told the UN meeting that the world had narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe. She called the Russian actions “reckless” and “dangerous,” adding that it put Europe’s largest nuclear power plant at grave risk and threatened the safety of civilians in Russia, in the UK and across the European continent.

She went on to say that nuclear facilities cannot become part of this conflict and Putin must stop the madness, and he must stop it now.

Further Read: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

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