The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Ukrainian authorities claim that the country’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was hit by the Russian missile strikes on Saturday night.
The IAEA officials told reporters that they heard a loud explosion and saw smoke coming from a nearby location. IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement that "The IAEA team at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) heard explosions and saw smoke coming from a nearby location where the plant said one of its auxiliary facilities was attacked today (Saturday).”
ZNPP officials told the team at the facility that around 9 am local time (0600 GMT) coincides with the time of Russian strikes and Ukrainian military activity located just 1.2 kilometres from the nuclear plant’s perimeter. Smoke from the strikes was still visible later in the afternoon, it said.
The incident follows the recent series of attacks launched by the Russian forces after the Ukrainian military targeted a Russian strategic air base in Siberia. "Any attack in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant, regardless of the intended target, poses potential risks also for nuclear safety and must be avoided. Once again, I call for maximum military restraint near nuclear facilities to prevent the continued risk of a nuclear accident," the statement quoted Grossi.
Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv early on Sunday, said the Ukrainian capital in a post on Telegram. Witnesses heard a loud blast shaking the city soon after midnight on Sunday. While Russia has confirmed striking Ukrainian military facilities on Saturday and Sunday, it has denied attacking the nuclear facility, which remains one of the most volatile targets in the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, in case a military strike is launched by either of the two sides on the ZNPP site, it would trigger a massive nuclear fallout in Europe. A strike on the ZNPP could spell doomsday for the entire region, including both Russia and Ukraine.
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