Russia said on Thursday (18) that a radioactive accident at the Zaporizhzhia power plant the largest nuclear power plant in Europe currently occupied by Russia could hit Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
Moscow also said it could shut down the plant in southern Ukraine if Kyiv continued to bomb the plant. Ukraine denies Russian and Ukrainian forces have exchanged allegations of authorship of the attacks.
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The head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s radioactive, chemical and biological defense forces, Igor Kirillov, said in a statement that the technical system at the Zaporizhia plant was affected by an attack.
In the event of an accident, Kirillov said, the radioactivity “will cover Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
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The plant was occupied by Russia in March and has been spared the war ever since. In recent weeks, however, Russian forces have blamed Ukrainians for attacks on the plant.
Kyiv has used the strategy of attacking Russianheld points on its own territory, but denies bombing Zaporizhia and claims Russia was responsible for the attacks.
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is once again worrying Western authorities.
Given the great concern that the possibility of a radioactive catastrophe has generated in the international community, the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, will go to the plant this Thursday (18) to check the conditions of the plant.
The UN has already stated that the situation at the nuclear power plant is serious and the risk of an accident is high.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also warns of “a very real risk of a nuclear catastrophe”. The IAEA also stressed that this was the first time there had been a war in a country with an efficient and welldeveloped nuclear energy network.
The Zaporizhzhia power plant is responsible for about 20% of Ukraine’s electricity.
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