On Thursday, Russia dismissed Ukraine’s allegations that Moscow forces were preparing a radioactive leak at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, saying it was Kyiv’s “new lie”.
“This is a new lie. We have just contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin (President of Russia), quoted by the French AFP agency.
Peskov’s reaction came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of preparing a “terrorist attack” with a leak of radioactive substances at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian troops.
Zelenskiy said the information had been obtained by the Ukrainian intelligence services and that he passed it on to the leaders of a number of countries, including China, Brazil and India, as well as to international organizations.
“They prepared everything for this,” Zelensky said in a message posted on the Telegram social network.
IAEA director Rafael Grossi visited a plant in Zaporozhye last week after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, also under Russian control.
The collapse of a dam on the Dnieper on June 6 raised concerns about the stability of a reservoir used to cool Zaporozhye’s six reactors.
During a visit on June 15, Grossi described the situation at the station caused by the collapse of the dam as serious but in the process of stabilizing.
Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the dam to slow down its counteroffensive in the country’s south, while Moscow blamed Kyiv for the explosion.
The Zaporozhye plant, the largest in Europe, found itself at the center of the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The complex fell into the hands of the Russian army on March 4, 2022, was repeatedly fired upon and disconnected from the power grid.
According to Kyiv, Russia has deployed troops and weapons to the plant’s facilities.
Ukraine has four nuclear power plants with 15 reactors, six of which are located in Zaporozhye.
The fighting around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant prompted the IAEA to issue a catastrophic warning in the country where the largest nuclear accident of its kind took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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