Russia warns of nuclear disaster at Ukraine plant

Moscow — Russia warned on Thursday of the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia power plant and accused Ukraine of planning a “provocation” there on Friday during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The facility, near front lines, has come under fire repeatedly in recent weeks. Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the shelling.

The Russian defence ministry accused Ukraine of trying to stage a “minor accident” at the plant in southern Ukraine to blame Russia.

Reuters could not verify Russia’s assertion.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, the largest in Europe, was captured by Russian forces soon after tens of thousands of troops invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Moscow was taking measures to ensure safety at the complex and denied it had deployed heavy weapons in and around the plant.

The ministry said the plant may be shut down if Ukrainian forces continued shelling it.

Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's radioactive, chemical and biological defence forces, said the plant’s backup support systems had been damaged as a result of shelling.

Kirillov presented a slide, showing that in the event of an accident at the plant, radioactive material would cover Germany, Poland and Slovakia.

Guterres, who is set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later on Thursday, has called for a halt to all fighting near the plant.

Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the Russian-installed administration in the Zaporizhzhia region, said earlier there was a risk that shelling could damage the cooling system of the reactor complex.

Russia says Ukrainian forces are recklessly firing at the plant. Ukraine says Russia is deliberately using the plant as a base to launch attacks against its forces and Russian troops have struck it themselves to blame Ukraine for any subsequent power cuts. 

Reuters