A fire that happened at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been put out, according to Russian state media. However, both Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for the incident while concerns about a potential nuclear disaster persist.
Russian forces have been occupying Europe’s largest nuclear power plant illegally for over two years. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that they were informed of an alleged drone attack on one of the plant’s cooling towers. Moscow accused Ukrainian forces of carrying out the attack with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) shortly after Dmitry Rogozin, a former head of the Russian space agency turned Kremlin representative in Zaporizhzhia, was reportedly at the plant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other hand, accused Russian forces of starting the fire at the plant and using its security as a means of blackmail. He emphasized the importance of Ukrainian control over the plant for the safety of not just Ukraine but all of Europe and the world.
The IAEA confirmed that while there was thick dark smoke and explosions at the plant, there was no impact on nuclear safety and radiation levels remained normal. The IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi condemned the continuous attacks on the plant, stating that they pose a serious threat to nuclear safety and must stop immediately.
The IAEA has requested access to the cooling tower to investigate the cause of the incident, but it is unclear if this access has been granted. The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continues to be a cause for concern as both Russia and Ukraine exchange blame for the recent fire incident.