NUCLEAR LEAK FEARS OVER FRESH SHELLING
Ukrainian plant ‘one step away from disaster’
THE threat of a radioactive leak at Europe’s largest nuclear plant remains high, operators at the Ukrainian atomic facility warned yesterday.
Ukraine and Russia traded fresh accusations of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Energodar which has been occupied by Russian troops since the start of the invasion.
Operator Energoatom said Russian troops “repeatedly shelled” it over the past day.
A spokesperson said: “As a result of periodic shelling, the infrastructure of the station has been damaged, there are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high.”
The agency said yesterday that the plant “operates with the risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards”.
In a counter claim Russia’s defence ministry said Ukrainian forces “shelled the territory of the station three times” from the town of Marganets across the Dnipro River.
The ministry accused Kyiv of “nuclear terrorism” and said shells landed near areas storing fresh nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The situation at the plant remains “very risky”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned.
He said: “Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.”
Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik yesterday warned her country and of Europe is “one mistake away” from a “terrifying disaster”.
Speaking on RTE Radio One, the leader of the Liberal Voice Party added: “We are one Russian soldier away from dropping a bomb two metres from where it was intended.
“We are extremely concerned with the nuclear plant situation.”