Authorities in Ukraine said on Saturday that Russian soldiers fired on regions close over the river, and Russia claimed Ukrainian shelling struck a facility where nuclear material is housed, raising concerns about the possibility of a radiation leak at Europe’s biggest nuclear power station.
Residents who live close to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant were receiving iodine pills from the authorities in case of radiation exposure, which might have negative health effects depending on how much radiation is absorbed.
The cooling systems for the nuclear reactors of the facility are a major source of worry.
The facility was temporarily shut down on Thursday due to what authorities described as transmission line fire damage, which is required for the systems to function.
A nuclear meltdown could be brought on by a faulty cooling system.
Early on in the six-month-old conflict in Ukraine, Russian military took the nuclear plant complex, but Ukrainian employees have managed to keep it operational.
The facility and the surrounding regions have reportedly been shelled, according to the Russian and Ukrainian governments, which has sparked worries of a potential disaster.
The infrastructure of the power plant has been damaged by repeated bombardment, according to Energoatom, the operator of Ukraine’s nuclear power plant.
It warned that there were high-risk fires and that radioactive materials may splutter and release hydrogen.
The enormous facility is directly on the front lines of some of the most fierce fighting waging between Ukrainian and Russian troops since the factory is located on the southeast bank of the Dnipro River, right on the brink of Russian-occupied territory in southeast Ukraine.
According to the most recent conflicting attack reports, Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, claimed on Saturday that Grad missiles and artillery shells struck the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of which is situated across the river from the plant at a distance of about 6 miles.
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, however, said that Ukrainian soldiers had shot on the facility from Marhanets.
According to him, 17 Ukrainian shells have been fired at the facility in the last day, with four of them hitting the top of a structure used to store nuclear material.
Given the limits on journalists’ mobility and the continuing combat, it was not feasible to confirm either story right away.
A deal to send a team to the facility to conduct an inspection and assist with security has been attempted by the U.N. atomic energy organisation.
Although preparations for the visit were reportedly under progress, an exact date was still unknown.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, said that it was crucial for officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency to reach the facility as soon as possible and assist in keeping it “under permanent Ukrainian administration.”
In his most recent nightly talk, Zelenskyy said that the situation “remains fragile and dangerous.”
“The station will once again be one step from catastrophe if (Thursday’s) events are repeated, such as any disconnecting of the station from the grid or any moves by Russia that may cause the reactors to shut down.”
According to Ukraine, Russia is allegedly stockpiling weaponry inside the power plant and firing strikes from the area surrounding it as a kind of defence.
Moscow, for its part, charges Ukraine of shooting carelessly on the nuclear facility.
Russia blocked agreement on the final text of the four-week review of the United Nations treaty, which is regarded as the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament, late on Friday due to the disagreement over the facility.
The Russian acquisition of the Zaporizhzhia facility was denounced in the draught text of the meeting to revise the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The meeting was turned into “a political hostage” by nations aiming “to settle scores with Russia by raising problems that are not directly relevant to the treaty,” according to the deputy leader of the Russian delegation.
Local government authorities in other parts of Ukraine reported that one person was killed and another was injured by Russian fire in the Mykolaiv area.
A significant Black Sea port and hub for shipbuilding is Mykolaiv City.
Russian soldiers fired on the city of Bakhmut on Saturday, killing two people, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the eastern Donetsk region.
Bakhmut is a key target for Russian and separatist forces attempting to seize the remaining portions of the province.
The British government said on Saturday that it was providing underwater drones to Ukraine and training sailors to use them to remove mines off the shoreline of the devastated nation.
Mines planted in the Black Sea during the conflict have made it difficult for Ukraine to move grain by sea to foreign markets, but a July accord has permitted shipments to restart via a single channel.
According to the United Nations, more than 1 million metric tonnes of Ukrainian food have been sent since the beginning of August as part of the Black Sea grain agreement.