Sloviask, Ukraine: Russia and Ukraine Trade claims of rocket and artillery strikes on Sunday in or near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant intensified fears that the fighting could lead to a massive radiation leak.
Ukraine’s Atomic Energy Agency on Sunday painted an ominous picture of the danger by releasing a map forecasting where the radiation could spread. zapsorizia Nuclear power plant, which has been controlled by the Russian military since the start of the war.
Attacks over the weekend were reported not only in the Russian-controlled area adjacent to the plant along the left bank of the Dnieper River, but also on the Ukraine-controlled right bank, which includes the cities of Nikopol and Marhanet, each approximately 10 kilometers (six miles) from the facility. .
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that Ukrainian Forces had attacked the plant twice the previous day, and the shells fell near buildings that store reactor fuel and radioactive waste.
“One projectile fell in the area of the sixth power unit, and another five fell in front of the sixth unit pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor,” Konashenkov said. Radiation levels were normal.
The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency also reported on Sunday that radiation levels were normal, that two of the Zaporizhzhya plant’s six reactors were functioning and that while no full evaluation had yet been carried out, recent fighting had damaged a water pipeline after repair.
In another apparent attack on Sunday, Russian forces shot down an armed Ukrainian drone targeting one of the Zaporizhzhya plant’s spent fuel storage sites, a local official said. Vladimir RogovA Russian-founded regional official said on the Telegram messaging app that the drone crashed on the roof of a building, causing no significant damage or injuries.
The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentin Reznichenko, said that nearby, heavy gunfire during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity. Rocket attacks damaged a dozen homes in Marhanets, which includes a city of about 45,000, according to district administration chief Yevgen Yevtushenko.
City council member Anatoly Kurtaev said the city of Zaporizhzhya, some 40 kilometers (25 mi) from the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, also came under Russian fire, damaging dozens of apartment buildings and homes and injuring two. Have become. Konashenkov said Russian forces attacked a Zaporizhzhya repair shop for Ukrainian Air Force helicopters.
Neither party’s claims could be independently verified.
Downriver from the nuclear plant, Ukrainian rockets struck the Kakhovka hydropower plant and the nearby town three times on Sunday, said Vladimir Leontyev, the head of the Russian-established local administration.
The plant’s dam is a major roadway across the river and potentially a major Russian supply route. The dam creates a reservoir that provides water for the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant.
A radiation map released by Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom showed that based on wind forecasts for Monday, a nuclear cloud could spread over southern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. The release of the map could be meant to warn that if Russian military were responsible for the radiation leak, their own country would suffer. In the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, the world’s worst nuclear power catastrophe, radiation spread from Ukraine to several neighboring countries.
Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhya plant in case of radiation exposure. Much of the concern has centered on the cooling system for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The system requires electricity, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline on Thursday after officials said a transmission line had been damaged by a fire. A failure of the cooling system can cause a nuclear meltdown.
Periodic shelling has damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Energotom said on Saturday.
“There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive materials, and the risk of fire is high,” it said.
The IAEA has tried to work out an agreement with Ukrainian and Russian officials to send a team to inspect and protect the plant, but it is unclear when the visit could take place.
Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kirilenko said in eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, large and strategically important cities of Kramatorsk and Slovakia were shelled, with no casualties. Konashenkov said Russian missile strikes killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and reservists in and near Sloviask. In keeping with its policy of not discussing damages, Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claim.
Sloviansk resident Kostiantin Daineko told The Associated Press he was sleeping when an explosion blew the windows of his apartment.
“I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying over me, the frame and the pieces of broken glass,” he said.
Russian and separatist forces occupy much of the Donetsk region, one of two Russia recognized as sovereign states.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky On Sunday again resolved to capture the separatist areas.
“The invaders brought fall and death and they believe they are there forever,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Sunday. “But this is a temporary thing for them. Ukraine will come back. Sure. Life will come back.”
Ukraine’s Atomic Energy Agency on Sunday painted an ominous picture of the danger by releasing a map forecasting where the radiation could spread. zapsorizia Nuclear power plant, which has been controlled by the Russian military since the start of the war.
Attacks over the weekend were reported not only in the Russian-controlled area adjacent to the plant along the left bank of the Dnieper River, but also on the Ukraine-controlled right bank, which includes the cities of Nikopol and Marhanet, each approximately 10 kilometers (six miles) from the facility. .
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that Ukrainian Forces had attacked the plant twice the previous day, and the shells fell near buildings that store reactor fuel and radioactive waste.
“One projectile fell in the area of the sixth power unit, and another five fell in front of the sixth unit pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor,” Konashenkov said. Radiation levels were normal.
The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency also reported on Sunday that radiation levels were normal, that two of the Zaporizhzhya plant’s six reactors were functioning and that while no full evaluation had yet been carried out, recent fighting had damaged a water pipeline after repair.
In another apparent attack on Sunday, Russian forces shot down an armed Ukrainian drone targeting one of the Zaporizhzhya plant’s spent fuel storage sites, a local official said. Vladimir RogovA Russian-founded regional official said on the Telegram messaging app that the drone crashed on the roof of a building, causing no significant damage or injuries.
The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentin Reznichenko, said that nearby, heavy gunfire during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity. Rocket attacks damaged a dozen homes in Marhanets, which includes a city of about 45,000, according to district administration chief Yevgen Yevtushenko.
City council member Anatoly Kurtaev said the city of Zaporizhzhya, some 40 kilometers (25 mi) from the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, also came under Russian fire, damaging dozens of apartment buildings and homes and injuring two. Have become. Konashenkov said Russian forces attacked a Zaporizhzhya repair shop for Ukrainian Air Force helicopters.
Neither party’s claims could be independently verified.
Downriver from the nuclear plant, Ukrainian rockets struck the Kakhovka hydropower plant and the nearby town three times on Sunday, said Vladimir Leontyev, the head of the Russian-established local administration.
The plant’s dam is a major roadway across the river and potentially a major Russian supply route. The dam creates a reservoir that provides water for the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant.
A radiation map released by Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom showed that based on wind forecasts for Monday, a nuclear cloud could spread over southern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. The release of the map could be meant to warn that if Russian military were responsible for the radiation leak, their own country would suffer. In the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, the world’s worst nuclear power catastrophe, radiation spread from Ukraine to several neighboring countries.
Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhya plant in case of radiation exposure. Much of the concern has centered on the cooling system for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The system requires electricity, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline on Thursday after officials said a transmission line had been damaged by a fire. A failure of the cooling system can cause a nuclear meltdown.
Periodic shelling has damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Energotom said on Saturday.
“There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive materials, and the risk of fire is high,” it said.
The IAEA has tried to work out an agreement with Ukrainian and Russian officials to send a team to inspect and protect the plant, but it is unclear when the visit could take place.
Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kirilenko said in eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, large and strategically important cities of Kramatorsk and Slovakia were shelled, with no casualties. Konashenkov said Russian missile strikes killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and reservists in and near Sloviask. In keeping with its policy of not discussing damages, Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claim.
Sloviansk resident Kostiantin Daineko told The Associated Press he was sleeping when an explosion blew the windows of his apartment.
“I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying over me, the frame and the pieces of broken glass,” he said.
Russian and separatist forces occupy much of the Donetsk region, one of two Russia recognized as sovereign states.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky On Sunday again resolved to capture the separatist areas.
“The invaders brought fall and death and they believe they are there forever,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Sunday. “But this is a temporary thing for them. Ukraine will come back. Sure. Life will come back.”