Safety concerns grow as Ukrainian nuclear plant repeatedly shelled 

Moscow, Aug. 9, (dpa/GNA) - Concerns for safety at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine grew on Monday after days of repeated shelling. 

The Zaporizhzhya facility – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – is occupied by Russian forces and Kiev and Moscow have each blamed each other for shelling in recent days. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said any attack on a nuclear plant was a “suicidal thing,” while Ukraine’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said an accident at the plant in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya would be far worse than the Chernobyl or Fukushima disasters. 

Speaking in Vienna, Yevheny Zymbalyuk warned an accident would have severe consequences not only for Ukraine, but all of Europe. 

“What will happen in a radius of 40 or 50 kilometres of the station, that is absolutely not comparable to Chernobyl or Fukushima,” Zymbalyuk said. 

Analysts however say Zaporizhzhya is better protected than the plants at Chernobyl and Fukushima thanks to a separate cooling circuit and a special protective layer. However, they say it would probably be unable to withstand a targeted military attack. 

Zymbalyuk repeated demands for monitors from the IAEA be sent to Zaporizhzhya along with unarmed international military observers. 

The IAEA has long complained that it is waiting to access to the plant and said that any deployment would require the support of both Moscow and Kiev. 

Germany’s Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) also said all radiological readings were currently “within the normal range,” in a statement to Funke media group newspapers. 

“There are no indications that radioactive substances may have been released in Ukraine,” the BfS said, but noted it shared concerns about maintaining safe operations at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant. 

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Washington continues to closely monitor activity and noted that US radiation sensors have seen “no indications of increased or abnormal radiation levels.” 

The White House called on Russia to “cease all military operations at or near Ukrainian nuclear facilities and return full control to Ukraine.” 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Monday urged the West to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt the “highly dangerous activity,” as Moscow continues to blame Kiev for the shelling. 

“We expect that the countries that have absolute influence over the Ukrainian leadership will use this to prevent further shelling,” Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency. 

Direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev were broken off in May, with no new negotiations in sight. 

The Pentagon also announced further arms sales to Ukraine, with a billion-dollar package including additional ammunition for rocket launcher systems and 1,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, and said it estimates that up to 80,000 people have been killed or injured on the Russian side in the Ukraine war. 

Meanwhile, the go-ahead was given for a referendum on accession to Russia in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya region. 

The Moscow-installed regional governor, Yevhen Balytskyi, said Monday he was signing a decree ordering the electoral commission to start preparing a referendum on the region’s unification with the Russian Federation, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. 

Balytskyi spoke at the “we are together with Russia” forum organized by the occupying forces in Melitopol. Zaporizhzhya, the regional capital, is still under Kiev’s control. 

It is unclear how such a vote, which Ukraine would not recognize, will be organized. 

Zelensky has already warned that referendums organized by the occupying forces would end all chance of peace talks with Russia. 

Balytskyi did not give a specific date for the planned vote. Early September was previously mentioned as a possibility. 

Also on Monday, a Russian soldier in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv was sentenced to 10 years in prison on war crimes charges. 

The court considered it proven that the tank soldier fired on a multi-storey apartment building, carrying out an order shortly after the war began at the end of February, Ukrainian public television reported on Monday. 

The soldier had pleaded guilty and is to be imprisoned for 10 years, but the sentence will only become final after a possible appeal. 

GNA