Lviv: Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhia, faced a fire breakout on Friday after Russian strikes hit the Ukrainian facility. ‘As a result of shelling by Russian forces on the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, a fire broke out’, spokesman Andrei Tuz said in a video posted on the plant’s Telegram account.
Following this, the country’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba demanded an immediate ceasefire at the site to avoid disaster. ‘Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Fire has already broke out’, he tweeted, warning of potential nuclear disaster if the plant blew up. ‘Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!’, he added.
Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency had raised the alarm after Russian troops entered the nearby town of Enerhodar in southern Ukraine. A live feed of the site earlier appeared to show blasts at the site, with fire lighting up the night sky and plumes of rising smoke. IAEA director Rafael Mariano Grossi urged an ‘immediate halt to the use of force at Enerhodar and called on the military forces operating there to refrain from violence near the nuclear power plant’.
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Russia has intensified strikes across the country, with fresh reports of civilian casualties and devastating damage, even as Moscow agreed to a Ukrainian request for humanitarian corridors to allow terrified residents to flee. There was no immediate clarity on how they would work, and no sign of any move towards a ceasefire, with Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky urging the West to step up military assistance and requesting for flights.
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