Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Tuesday of plotting an attack on the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, in the hands of the Moscow forces and which has long been the object of mutual suspicions and recriminations. Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, denounced that Russian forces placed explosives on the roof of the plant. He kremlin ensures that kyiv plans to launch a missile about the facilities.
Since then, each side has regularly accused the other of bombing the area around the plant, located in southern Ukraine, and risking a serious nuclear mishap.
Explosives in Zaporizhia?
Through a video on social networks, Zelenski said he had “information from our intelligence” that “The Russian military has placed objects that look like explosives on the roof of several power units of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant”.
The president warned that “perhaps to simulate an attack on the plant” or “perhaps they have some other scenario” but, in any case, “the world sees, cannot help but see, that the only source of danger for the nuclear power of Zaporizhia It’s Russia and no one else.”
At the same time, he urged world leaders to take action on the matter. “It is the responsibility of everyone in the world to stop it, no one can be left out, since radiation affects everyone,” he said.
A statement from the Ukrainian armed forces cited “operational data” according to which “explosive devices” had been placed on the roof of the third and fourth reactors at the plant on Tuesday. Being possible that an attack would take place “in the near future”.
“If detonated, they would not damage the reactors but would create an image of shelling from the Ukrainian side,” the statement on Telegram read.. The Ukrainian army is “ready to act under any circumstances.” The military also provided no evidence for their claims.
Russia’s complaint
Renat Karchaa, adviser to the head of rosenergoatom, which manages the Russian nuclear network, stated that Ukraine planned to drop munitions impregnated with nuclear waste on the plant transported from another of the country’s five nuclear power plants.
“Under the cover of darkness on the night of July 5, the Ukrainian military will attempt to attack the central Zaporizhia using long-range precision equipment and kamikaze attack drones,” Karchaa told Russian television, according to Russian news agencies. He did not provide any evidence in support of his claim.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has visited the plant three times since the Russian takeover, but has failed to close any deal to keep the facility safe from bombing or other incidents related to the conflict.
Mikhailo Podolyak, adviser to the ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky, He told Ukrainian television that Grossi had proved ineffective in trying to maintain security at the plant.
“Any catastrophe in Zaporizhia could have been avoided if (Grossi) had been clear from the start,” Podolyak said, accusing the IAEA of lurching in its approach to the problem.
Source: Ambito
