The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Blasts shake nuclear region
Powerful explosions have shaken Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
The global nuclear watchdog called for “urgent measures to help prevent a nuclear accident” in the Russian-occupied facility.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said two explosions near the Zaporizhzhia plant abruptly ended a period of relative calm around the nuclear facility that has been the site of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces since the start of the war.
There have been fears of a nuclear catastrophe since Russia occupied the plant in the early days of the invasion. In what appeared to be renewed shelling close to and at the site, IAEA experts at the Zaporizhzhia facility reported hearing more than a dozen blasts in a short period yesterday.
Several buildings, systems and equipment at the power plant – none critical for the nuclear safety and security of the plant – were damaged in the shelling. There were no reports of casualties.
Mr Grossi said reports of shelling were “extremely disturbing.” He added: “Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately.
“As I have said many times before, you’re playing with fire!”
He appealed to both sides to agree and implement a nuclear safety and security zone.
Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s infrastructure causing blackouts for millions of
Ukrainians in frigid weather in capital Kyiv and other cities.
Meanwhile, a funeral has been held for one of two Polish men killed in a missile explosion near the border with Ukraine – deaths western officials said appear to have been caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile which went astray.
Officials from Poland, Nato and the United States say they think Russia is to blame for the deaths no matter what because a Ukrainian missile would not have misfired had the country not been forced to defend itself against Russian attacks.
A Polish investigation to determine the source of the missile and the circumstances of the explosion was launched with support from the US. Ukrainian investigators joined the probe on Friday.