Fresh shelling at Ukraine nuclear plant amid leak risk

KYIV • Ukraine and Russia traded fresh accusations of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant yesterday, as its operator warned of a radioactive leak risk at the atomic facility.

The Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian troops since the opening of the invasion.

Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly traded allegations over rocket attacks in the vicinity of the plant - Europe's largest - located in the city of Energodar.

The plant's operator Energoatom yesterday said Russian troops "repeatedly shelled" it over the past day. Russia's defence ministry issued a counter-claim that Ukrainian troops were responsible for a salvo of 17 shells landing on the site.

"As a result of periodic shelling, the infrastructure of the station has been damaged, there are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high," Energoatom said on Telegram.

The agency said that as at midday yesterday, the plant was operating "with the risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards".

Russia's defence ministry said Ukrainian forces "shelled the territory of the station three times" from the town of Marganets across the Dnipro River.

In a communique, the ministry accused Kyiv of "nuclear terrorism" and said shells landed near areas storing fresh nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. Nevertheless, radiation levels at the plant "remain normal", the ministry said.

The plant was cut off from Ukraine's power grid on Thursday for the first time in its four-decade history due to "actions of the invaders", Energoatom said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the power cut was caused by Russian shelling of the last active power line linking the plant to the network.

It came back online on Friday afternoon but Mr Zelensky warned that "the worst case scenario... is constantly being provoked by Russian forces".

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is calling for a mission to the plant "as soon as possible to help stabilise the nuclear safety and security situation there". Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi has said he wants to visit the site within days, warning of potential disaster.

Meanwhile, Russia has probably stepped up attacks along the Donetsk sector of the Donbas region over the past five days in a move that could be aimed at sucking in Ukrainian troops and foiling a counter-attack, according to Britain's defence ministry.

There has been intense fighting near the towns of Siversk and Bakhmut, north of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, the ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin on Twitter yesterday.

"There is a realistic possibility that Russia has increased its efforts in the Donbas in an attempt to draw in or fix additional Ukrainian units, amid speculation that Ukraine is planning a major counter-offensive," it added.

In Moscow, a top ally of President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia would not stop its military campaign in Ukraine even if Kyiv formally renounced its aspirations to join the United States-led military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

Former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, also said in a French television interview that Russia was prepared to hold talks with Mr Zelensky, subject to certain conditions.

Even before the February invasion, Moscow made clear that Ukrainian membership of Nato was unacceptable to it.

"Renouncing its participation in the North Atlantic alliance is now vital, but it is already insufficient in order to establish peace," Mr Medvedev told LCI television in quotes reported by Russian news agencies. Russia, he said, would continue the campaign until its goals had been achieved.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS