Attack on Ukrainian nuclear power plant is ‘suicidal’, says UN secretary-general urges to visit site | Ukraine

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked international inspectors to allow access to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine And Russia exchanged accusations over the weekend’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

“Any attack on a nuclear power plant is an act of suicide,” Guterres said at a news conference in Japan on Monday, two days after attending a Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing. rice field.

Guterres said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs access to the plant. “I fully support the IAEA’s efforts to stabilize nuclear power plants,” Guterres said.

Ukraine said renewed Russian shelling on Saturday damaged three radiation sensors and injured a worker at the Zaporizhzhia power plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of committing “nuclear terrorism” and justified more international sanctions, this time against Moscow’s nuclear sector. “There is no country in the world where you can feel safe when a terrorist state fires at a nuclear power plant,” Zelensky said in a television address on Sunday.

Russian forces occupied a factory in southeastern Ukraine in early March, but it is still run by Ukrainian engineers.

Russian-installed authorities in the area said Ukrainian forces had struck the site with multiple rocket launchers, damaging areas near the administration building and storage facilities. The Russian Embassy in Washington also issued a statement listing the damage.

“Ukrainian nationalists launched shelling in the area of ​​​​the designated object on August 5. As a result of the shelling, two high-voltage power lines and water pipes were damaged. No critical infrastructure was affected, thanks to effective and timely action taken to cover the

The head of the occupation authorities in Zaporizhia, Yevgeny Baritsky, said the Ukrainian army was to blame. Europe On the brink of nuclear catastrophe by bombarding the plant.”

Ukraine says Russia has turned factories into military bases, making it very difficult to target Russian forces and equipment inside. according to According to The New York Times, Russia has been using the factory as a cover to open fire on Ukrainian forces since mid-July.

The Institute for War Studies (ISW), a Washington-based think-tank, said on August 3 that the Russian military had built the power plant “using Western fears of a nuclear disaster in Ukraine to bolster the West’s will for nuclear war.” It was evaluated that it is highly likely that it is being used for the purpose of “attempting to weaken it.” Provide military support for the Ukrainian counterattack. The ISW further said that Russia “effectively uses the plant as a nuclear shield to prevent Ukrainian attacks on Russian forces and equipment.”

It was not possible to independently determine which side was responsible for the attack on the power plant.

IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi warned Saturday that the latest attacks “highlight the very real risk of a nuclear disaster”.

Elsewhere, Russia has strengthened its positions and numbers on Ukraine’s southern front to prepare for a Ukrainian counterattack, and is likely preparing for an offensive, according to British and Ukrainian military officials.

“Russian forces have almost certainly converged in the south, awaiting a Ukrainian counterattack or preparing to attack. We continue to do so,” said the UK Ministry of Defence. early claims By Deputy Director of Military Intelligence of Ukraine.

According to another source of Ukrainian military intelligence, Russian forces have caused fire damage along the front lines in the occupied Kherson region, preventing Ukrainian forces from pushing out of their positions, and in Mykolaiv and South Dnipro. It is adding more troops to attack the Petrovsk area. Conducting aerial reconnaissance of the area by drones. According to the same sources, in the occupied Zaporizhia region, the Russians are actively attacking Ukrainian forces and introducing new units to strengthen their numbers.

with Reuters