Two satellite images show five white shapes, which may resemble those of explosives, on the roof of Reactor 4 at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
The photos were taken by satellite imagery company Planet Labs on the morning of July 5. Sky news He later shared the images on his website.
• Also read: Nuclear threat: Zaporizhia prepares for “worst case scenario”.
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• Also read: Explosives at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant?
The advisor to the Interior Minister of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, also posted the pictures on Twitter. He also conveyed comments from Petro Kotin, the chief engineer at Energoatom, Ukraine’s national nuclear power company.
“Machine gun nests have been placed on some reactor roofs and photographs suggest explosives may also be present there.”
Ukrainian energy atom: Russia placed machine gun nests on the power units of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
“Machine gun nests were placed on some roofs of power plant units. And these images also suggest that explosives in particular might be there,” commented Energoatom boss Petro Kotin… pic.twitter.com/Y1SmlEJLrF
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 7, 2023
These images support the announcement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed concern on Tuesday: “Russian troops have placed objects resembling explosives on the roof of several reactors at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.”
According to Mr. Zelenskyy, the Russians would try to “simulate an attack”. [ukrainienne] on the headquarters.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is making “progress” in securing access to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, its Director General Rafael Grossi said on Friday.
“I think we’re making progress,” Grossi said during a visit to Tokyo.
The IAEA chief said inspectors had visited several sites, including the cooling pools, but had not been able to access the roofs where Ukraine suspects Russian forces occupying the facility planted mines or explosives.
“I’m pretty confident that we’ll get this clearance,” said Grossi.
“It’s a combat zone, it’s an active war zone, so sometimes it can take a day or two to get the permits,” he explained.
Ukraine, whose nuclear power plant Chernobyl (North) was already the scene of the worst nuclear disaster in history in 1986, during Soviet times, accused Moscow on Tuesday of preparing a “provocation” on site.
The Ukrainian army claims that “explosive-like objects” were placed on the roofs of reactors 3 and 4 at the plant.
Russia assured the opposite, saying that Kiev planned to commit a “subversive act” at the plant.
When the largest power plant in Europe fell into the hands of the Russian army on March 4, 2022, it was set on fire several times and cut off from the power grid several times, a precarious situation that raises fears of a serious nuclear accident.
– With AFP