As concerns about a possible nuclear accident in southern Ukraine rise, new images have surfaced showing gaps in the roof of the nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia that is now under Russian occupation.
The biggest nuclear power facility in Europe has a hole in the ceiling of what is allegedly Special Building No. 1, which is where new fuel for nuclear reactors is kept.
According to the Russian TASS news agency, Russian soldiers, who took control of the facility near the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar on the southern bank of the Dnipro River in March, have accused Ukrainian forces of firing the area on Monday.
The outlet claimed that two 155mm rounds launched from the city of Nikopol in Ukrainian-held territory detonated close to a spent fuel storage structure at the factory, according to the Russian-installed local authority.
In response, Russian military structures were allegedly erected near to the reactors, and they were then allegedly utilised as nuclear hostages from which to shell Ukrainian positions by the Russians.
The roof damage occurs as IAEA inspectors go to the location to “guard the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s largest nuclear complex,” according to Rafael Grossi, director general of the organisation.
The biggest nuclear power facility in Europe has a hole in the ceiling of what is allegedly Special Building No. 1, which is where new fuel for nuclear reactors is kept.
Vladimir Rogov, commander of the occupying Russian troops in the area, declared: “A attack by Zelensky’s militants breached the roof of Special Building No. 1 of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
In this structure, fresh fuel for ZNPP reactors is kept.
The images, for which there is no outside verification, were made public on the eve of the international IAEA expedition to the Energodar facility.
Russia and Ukraine have often accused one another of launching attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and endangering the world’s nuclear stockpile.
Six different nuclear reactors are housed at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, as opposed to Chernobyl’s four, which were the subject of a radioactive meltdown in 1985.
Despite the absence of a nuclear mushroom cloud, a hazardous cloud of ionising radiation was discharged into the environment, greatly increasing the risk of cancer among individuals exposed.
According to satellite images, Russian armoured personnel vehicles are parked carelessly close to the reactors. Kyiv has accused Moscow of stationing 500 troops at the facility as well as stockpiling heavy weapons and armaments.
This past weekend, emergency services in the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is controlled by Ukraine, conducted training sessions on how to handle a nuclear catastrophe, including simulating evacuations and decontamination drills.
In the meanwhile, Ukraine troops claimed to have penetrated Russian lines in a significant new counteroffensive to the west of the volatile situation.
The pro-Russian separatist forces had “retreated,” according to the Ukrainian military unit “Kakhova,” from their positions in Kherson.
On March 3, Russian soldiers took Kherson, the first significant city to fall as a result of Putin’s heinous invasion.
Today’s announcement by the southern military command that the long-awaited manoeuvre had been completed reflects Kyiv’s rising confidence as a result of the influx of Western military supplies.
According to Sergey Khlan, a local lawmaker and the regional governor’s advisor, “today there was a tremendous artillery strike on enemy positions throughout… the whole area of the seized Kherson region.”
This news marks the start of the de-occupation of the Kherson area, something we have been anticipating since the spring.
On the southern front, Ukrainian forces, according to Khlan, currently have “the edge.”
Bridges in the area have been the focus of many attacks in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Russian military supply.
Khlan predicted that the area will be retaken by Kyiv’s troops by the end of September in late July.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Southern Command, claimed that recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian logistical routes in the south had “unquestionably weakened the enemy,” adding that more than 10 Russian ammunition dumps had been targeted in the previous week.
She didn’t want to get drawn into discussing the new offensive, though.
She said that Russia’s troops in the south are “very formidable” and have been developed over a long period of time, adding that “any military operation requires quiet.”
In sharp contrast to its abortive effort to seize the capital Kyiv, Russia quickly took large portions of Ukraine’s south along the Black Sea coast, notably Kherson.
Ukraine has been attacking Russian ammo stores and disrupting supply lines using high-tech weaponry provided by the West.
In a briefing on Monday, Humeniuk said that Ukraine had destroyed more than 10 such munitions storage facilities in the previous week, adding that these strikes had “unquestionably damaged the adversary.”