Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says Nuclear Power Plants Need Protection From Russian Subversion

      photo:REUTERS/Juan Medina


The head of Russia's state-run atomic energy agency, Rosatom, warned on Monday there was a risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, following renewed shelling over the weekend.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling the facility for months since Russian forces took control of it in March, shortly after invading Ukraine. Renewed shelling on Sunday triggered fresh fears of a possible disaster at the site.

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged NATO members on Monday to guarantee the protection of Ukraine's nuclear plants from Russian sabotage, a day after the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant was rocked by heavy shelling.

"All our nations are interested in not having any dangerous incidents at our nuclear facilities," Zelenskiy said in a video address to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid.

We all require unwavering defense against Russian sabotage at nuclear plants, he continued.

Given that Chornobyl, the location of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, is only 500 kilometers (300 miles) away, concerns have been raised about the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southern Ukraine.

Attacks on the factory, which is situated in territory held by Russia close to the front line, are both attributed to the other by Russia and Ukraine. Which side fired the shells over the weekend? Reuters was unable to independently confirm.

Such attacks run the potential of a massive catastrophe, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations.

As Russian forces destroy vital public infrastructure, Zelenskiy also urged for new EU sanctions against Moscow for what he called its "strategy of extermination." Russia denies purposefully attacking civilians in Ukraine, but it recognizes a campaign of strikes against infrastructure, including electrical power plants.