Zelenskyy: Russia uses Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant as ground for strikes on Nikopol and equipment storage – video

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia is using the territory of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) as a launching ground for strikes on Nikopol and other hromadas, storing military equipment and ammunition on the plant's premises [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories - ed.]. Source: Zelenskyy on Facebook Quote: "Russia is blackmailing the world with the threat of a catastrophe at the ZNPP, using the station's territory as a launching ground for strikes on Nikopol and nearby hromadas, and storing military equipment and ammunition on the plant's premises. 

Only the return of the plant to Ukrainian control will ensure full compliance with all safety standards and normalise the situation around the ZNPP."

Details: The president said Ukraine has ensured the highest level of safety at its nuclear facilities for decades. This will continue, but it requires an end to Russia's presence at the ZNPP.  The Russians have controlled Europe's largest nuclear power plant, the ZNPP, for more than two years: "And the Russian presence consistently poses a fundamental threat to the radiation safety of our country, all of Europe, and the world."

Background:

• On the evening of 11 August, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians had started a fire on the territory of the ZNPP and urged the IAEA and the international community to respond to the incident.

  No changes to radiation levels near the ZNPP have been documented.

• Yevhen Yevtushenko, Head of Nikopol District Military Administration, had previously reported that the ZNPP was operating as usual, and the Russians had likely set fire to a large quantity of car tyres in the cooling tower.

  Cooling tower number one is located about a kilometre from the plant's power units. 

• The Russian occupiers have blamed Ukraine for allegedly attacking the city of Enerhodar and claim that background radiation around the ZNPP is normal.
• The Russians denied IAEA experts access to the interior of the cooling tower at ZNPP, where the fire had broken out.

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