Ukraine and Russia trade blame over fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine and Russia are accusing each other after a fire erupted at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russian forces, who have controlled the plant for more than two years, were responsible for starting the fire. Meanwhile, the Kremlin-appointed governor of Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, alleged that the blaze was caused by Ukrainian shelling.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog observed “strong dark smoke” rising from the site but reported no impact on nuclear safety.
This incident occurred as Ukrainian forces made significant advances, penetrating up to 30 kilometers into Russian territory, marking the deepest incursion since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
On Sunday, Balitsky reported that the fire had broken out at the plant’s cooling towers. He called for calm, stating that there had been no radiation spike in the area.
President Zelensky also confirmed that there was no radiation increase or risk of a nuclear leak but accused Russia of deliberately starting the fire to “blackmail” Kyiv.
In a Telegram post early Monday, Vladimir Rogov, another Kremlin-appointed official, announced that the fire had been “completely extinguished.”
The nuclear power plant has been under the control of Russian troops and officials since 2022. It has not produced power in more than two years and all six reactors have been in cold shutdown since April.
In a statement posted on X, UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts had witnessed “strong dark smoke” coming from the plant following “multiple explosions”.
It said the plant had reported “an alleged drone attack” on one of the cooling towers at the site.
“No impact has been reported for nuclear safety,” the IAEA added.
In a later statement, the IAEA said it had requested “immediate access to the cooling tower to assess the damage”.
The fire comes just a day after President Zelensky acknowledged for the first time that his military is conducting a cross-border offensive inside Russia’s western Kursk region.
In his nightly video address on Saturday, Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine’s military was pushing the war onto “the aggressor’s territory”.
A senior Ukrainian official told the AFP news agency that thousands of troops were engaged in the operation, far more than initially reported by Russian border guards.
Kyiv launched its surprise attack on Tuesday, rapidly advancing more than 30km (19 miles) inside Russia – the deepest raid since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has so far struggled to halt the Ukrainian advance, with more than 76,000 people evacuated from the Kursk region, where a state of emergency has been declared by local authorities.
Emergency trains from Kursk to Moscow have also been set up by Russia’s rail operator for those looking to flee.
The fighting appeared to be ongoing over the weekend, with Kursk Governor Aleksei Smirnov saying early on Sunday that there were injured people in a “treacherous” Ukrainian attack.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the offensive was a “major provocation”.
