Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant accuses Ukraine of another substation attack
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The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant's management said an artillery strike had hit a transformer at the "Raduga" substation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ZAPORIZHZHIA OBLAST - The management of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station said on Sept 29 that Ukrainian forces had launched a new attack on a nearby electricity substation, destroying a transformer.
The Zaporizhzhia station – Europe’s largest with six reactors – was seized by Russian forces in the early days of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The plant’s management, writing on messaging app Telegram, said an artillery strike hit the transformer at the “Raduga” substation in the town of Enerhodar in south-eastern Ukraine.
It described the incident as “yet another terrorist act aimed at destabilising the situation in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant’s satellite city”.
Also posted was a photograph showing smoke billowing from the top of a building. It said power supplies to Enerhodar had not been interrupted.
On Sept 20, the plant’s management accused the Ukrainian military of attacking a second substation in Enerhodar.
The following day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha accused Russia of planning strikes on Ukrainian nuclear facilities before winter. He provided no detailed explanation.
Power lines to the Zaporizhzia plant have been cut on several occasions, increasing the chance of a blackout that could cause a nuclear accident.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has stationed monitors permanently at the plant and urged both sides to refrain from all attacks on it. REUTERS
