Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘risks increasing every day’: city mayor

• The probability of disaster at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “growing every day,”
• The facility, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian soldiers early in the invasion and has remained on the front lines ever since.
• Ukrainian President accuses Russia of nuclear “blackmail” and using the plant to “intimidate people”.

The probability of disaster at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is held by Russian soldiers, is “growing every day,” according to the mayor of the city where the plant is located.

The facility, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian soldiers early in the invasion and has remained on the front lines ever since.

This week, the facility has been frequently attacked, with Kiev and Moscow trading blame for the perilous escalation.

The mayor of the southeastern city of Energodar, where the plant is located, said “the risks are increasing every day” as Russian forces are “shelling the infrastructure that ensures the safe operation of the station”.

“What is happening there is outright nuclear terrorism,” Dmytro Orlov told AFP by telephone from the city of Zaporizhzhia, which remains under Ukrainian control.

“It can end unpredictably at any moment.”

Kyiv has accused Moscow of basing troops and weapons in the station, launching attacks and using the atomic plant as a shield from returning fire.

In his televised address Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of nuclear “blackmail” and using the plant to “intimidate people in an extremely cynical way”.

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting over the situation on Thursday and warned of a “grave” crisis unfolding in Zaporizhzhia.

“The invaders continue to terrorise the civilian population and the nuclear power plant,” said Orlov.

“Fire safety rules are repeatedly violated. The situation is heating up, and the escalation continues.”

He said “mortar shelling of the nuclear power plant is carried out every day and night from the occupied villages”.

“The situation is hazardous, and what causes the most concern is that there is no de-escalation process,” he added.

Orlov also said that over the past 24 hours, Energodar — which he left at the end of April — had started to be shelled for the first time, with a dramatic increase in those hoping to evacuate.

He warned that there might not be enough workers to staff the station in the “near future.”

In 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power facility exploded and blasted radiation into the atmosphere, causing the world’s worst nuclear accident.

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