Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, has accused Russia of plotting a “terrorist attack” involving a “radiation” leak at the Zaporizhia power plant, occupied by Russian troops in southern Ukraine. “Our intelligence has obtained information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhia power plant, an attack with radiation release. They have prepared everything for this,” he said Thursday, June 22, on Telegram.
“We pass this information to all our partners around the world, all the evidence,” he continued. “The world is warned, the world can and must act,” he urged.
The Kremlin immediately responded, calling the Ukrainian president’s claims “false”. “We’ve just had contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” whose director, Rafael Grossi, visited the Zaporizhia plant last week, the spokesman told reporters. of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.
This installation, the largest in Europe, is at the heart of the war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022. Fallen into the hands of the Russian army on March 4, 2022, this plant was targeted by fire and has been cut off from the power grid several times. According to kyiv, Russia has placed troops and weapons in its compound.
The destruction in May of the Kakhovka dam, located in the Russian-occupied southern zone, raised concerns about the sustainability of the basin used to cool the plant’s six reactors. Visiting the plant on June 15, Grossi said the situation was “serious” but stabilizing. Ukraine has accused Russia of blowing up the dam to slow down its counter-offensive in the south. Moscow blamed kyiv for the explosion.