The buildings of a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine have been damaged by a Russian strike.
Troops from the Kremlin attacked the Pivdennoukrainsk plant in the Mykolaiv area, causing an explosion within 300 yards from the reactors.
The attack damaged the buildings of a power plant, a nearby hydroelectric power plant, and transmission lines.
A photograph of an abandoned military position near the city of Balakliya in the Kharkiv region
A Ukrainian soldier stands at a recaptured roadblock in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv area, during the country’s counteroffensive.
However, the three reactors at the Pivdennoukrainsk plant were not damaged and are operating normally, according to Energoatom, the state nuclear enterprise of Ukraine.
‘At now, all three power units at the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP) are running normally. Fortunately, there were no station personnel casualties,’ Energoatom stated.
It published two images depicting a crater attributed to the explosion. In one of the images, a man is standing in the crater to demonstrate its magnitude.
Commenting on the attack on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, ‘The invaders wanted to shoot again, but forgot what a nuclear power station is. Russia threatens the entire planet. We must intervene before it is too late.
People cross a damadge bridge in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine as Russian troops retreat.
Russia did not respond immediately to Ukraine’s charges.
In recent weeks, the Mykolaiv region has been under continual rocket fire from Russian soldiers.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, Europe’s largest and located about 250 kilometers east of the Mykolaiv site, was shut down earlier this month due to Russian shelling, stoking fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
The Zaporizhzhia factory, which is seized by Russian military but run by Ukrainian personnel, has been shelled by both Russia and Ukraine. The bombardment has harmed structures and interrupted electrical lines.
This weekend, the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported that one of the four main power lines supplying the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex with electricity from the Ukrainian grid had been repaired.