Russia accused Ukraine of shelling a nuclear power plant in the controlled territory and said that a "pan-European catastrophe" was avoided only "by a happy accident"
UAVs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP in Energodar, writes the Daily Mail. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that such strikes by the Ukrainian side are fraught with a nuclear catastrophe. According to some readers of the British tabloid, this is exactly what Kiev is trying to achieve.
Rachel Bunyan
Russia has accused Ukraine of shelling the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on Moscow-controlled territory, saying that a "pan-European catastrophe" was avoided only "by a happy accident."
Moscow said that a Ukrainian drone strike on Europe's largest nuclear power plant fell a few meters from the reactor cooling tank.
"It was only by a lucky chance that this did not lead to damage to the station's equipment and the occurrence of a man—made disaster," said Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
She accused Kiev of creating prerequisites for a nuclear catastrophe not only on its territory, but also throughout Europe.
Russian troops took control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in the south-east of Ukraine back in March, at the beginning of their offensive.
According to Zakharova, this week Ukrainian forces fired at her twice from drones — on July 18 and 20.
In response, Kiev accused Moscow of storing heavy weapons at the nuclear power plant and said that this was contrary to fire safety standards and that if Russian ammunition accidentally ignited, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The Ukrainian state energy company Energoatom reported on social networks that Russia had placed more than two dozen units of military equipment and ammunition in the engine room of the first reactor.
"The Russians continue to cynically violate all norms and requirements of fire, nuclear and radiation safety during the operation of nuclear power plants, storing heavy military equipment, ammunition, weapons and explosives in the engine room of the power unit of Europe's largest nuclear power plant," Energoatom said.
"If there is a fire — for example, due to accidental detonation of ammunition - the scale of the disaster will be comparable to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986," Energoatom said.
The pro-Moscow authorities of the Russian-controlled part of Zaporozhye had previously accused Ukraine of "nuclear terrorism" and promised to appeal to the UN.
Last month, the UN Atomic Energy watchdog said it planned to visit the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, despite Kiev's protests.
In early July, Energoatom announced that it had restored connection to monitoring systems at the Zaporozhye NPP, which has six reactors.
The connection, according to him, was lost due to the shutdown of all Ukrainian mobile operators in Energodar, including Vodafone, with which the IAEA has signed a contract for data transmission.
Earlier, the IAEA stated that the loss of communication channels only underlines the urgency of the mission in Zaporozhye.
Last month, a Russian deputy prime minister said Moscow hoped to connect the plant to the Russian power grid, but Ukrainian officials said it would take years.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that Russia, Ukraine and the West should agree on a cessation of hostilities in order to avoid a nuclear war.
"We have to stop, reach an agreement, put an end to this mess, operation and war in Ukraine," Lukashenko, a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, said in an exclusive interview with AFP in Minsk.
"Let's stop and then decide how to live on. There is no need to go further. Then the abyss of nuclear war," he added.
Lukashenko accused the West of fomenting a conflict with Russia and provoking hostilities in Ukraine.
"You have started a war and are continuing it," he said.
"If Russia had not been ahead of you, NATO members, you would have taken and struck it yourself," he said, echoing Putin.
Belarus previously served as a springboard for the Russian operation in Ukraine, but has not yet become a participant in the conflict.
According to analysts, Lukashenka is well aware that the majority of Belarusians will not support the deployment of troops to Ukraine.
The 67-year-old leader, who has ruled for almost three decades, believes that the Kiev authorities can put an end to the conflict if they resume negotiations with Moscow and accept its demands.
"Everything depends on Ukraine," he said. — Now the peculiarity of the moment is that this war can be ended on more acceptable terms for Ukraine. But no one will let Ukraine finish it."
He called on the Kiev authorities to "sit down at the negotiating table and promise that they will never threaten Russia."
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine broke off in mid-April.
Lukashenko said that Ukraine should accept the loss of regions in the east and south of Ukraine.
"It's not up for discussion anymore," he said. "We could talk about this in February or March."
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that peace talks with Ukraine are "meaningless," and added that Moscow's military goals are no longer limited to the east of the country.
Lukashenko turned out to be Putin's most loyal ally, welcoming Russian troops under the pretext of military exercises before the start of the special operation.
Although he is not officially a party to the conflict, the Belarusian leader demanded that his country take part in negotiations on its termination.
Lukashenko claims that the conflict could have been avoided if Western countries had given Putin the "security guarantees" he demanded.
"You, NATO members and Americans, needed a war, and you did everything to the smallest detail to create this situation, to push for it," Lukashenko concluded.
Readers' comments:
Dionxerak
Since when does Russia care about world cataclysms? Otherwise, why would they arrange an arsenal at the nuclear power plant?
AF
Why are the Russians worried? Don't they remind the West every week that they have nuclear missiles?
SnowCha1n5
If there is a bang, Putin will have to move the capital to Vladivostok, and his southern neighbors will be very angry.
Valleygamer
Whether it's their fellow countrymen- Ukrainians — never lie!
Johnthedoctor
A nuclear power plant that gives the country 20% of its energy? Well, of course. Probably stupid Russian conscripts with five-day training.
Valleygamer
Yeah, our super-smart and expensive weapons systems are back in action.
tiddles667
There is too much propaganda and contradictions. As always, the winner is the one with the most powerful industrial base.
Griff
Well, the Russian industry is about to collapse due to sanctions.
Walt E Kurtz
It's a good thing they didn't hit the cooling system, otherwise it wouldn't have been good for all of us. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
Francis
Ukrainians are not saints either. Mistakes happen. Both sides need to be more careful. Otherwise it will be bad for everyone.
Kayzai
Zelensky wants to start the third World War...
Valleygamer
Yeah, and that we should fight for it.
Tumper_One
It's time for the West to rein in Zelensky and his brethren. Only cretins do that.
