The Ukrainian president said Russian troops are holding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “hostage” and its safety cannot be ensured until they are gone, as Ukrainian forces have cut off the frontline town of Avdiivka , as they plan their next move.
Russian troops have occupied the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, since the first weeks of the invasion of Ukraine and have shown no inclination to relinquish control.
“Holding a nuclear power plant hostage for more than a year – this is certainly the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of European or world nuclear energy,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in his evening video address.
He condemned the Russian presence as “radiation blackmail”.
His comments came after a meeting with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at the Dnipro hydroelectric plant, northeast of the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
Efforts to restore security are “doomed to fail” without the withdrawal of Russian troops from the facility, Zelenskiy said in comments posted on the presidential website.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of bombing Zaporizhzhia power plant. The fighting around it and concerns about water shortages and loss of energy to cooling systems raise fears of a nuclear disaster.
A team of IAEA experts has been stationed at the facility since September, which Kiev has accused Moscow of using as a shield for troops and military equipment.
Grossi has repeatedly requested a safe zone around the site and is expected to visit again this week. He has tried to negotiate with both sides, but in January he said negotiating a deal was getting more difficult.
Zaporizhzhia is one of four regions Russia said it annexed in September after referendums globally criticized as sham. Russia sees the plant as its territory, which Ukraine denies.
Zelenskiy visited the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia on Monday, the latest stop on a tour of frontline regions since a general said Ukraine’s counterattack could come soon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, now in its 14th month, has been stalled for months amid fierce fighting along the Eastern Front, where Ukrainian forces are trying to defeat the invaders before launching their own offensive.
On the battlefield, Russian forces appear to be massing at Avdiivka, 90km south of the devastated city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Ukraine closed Avdiivka to civilians on Monday, with one official describing it as a “post-apocalyptic” wasteland.
Source: Terra
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