Massive Russian bombardment in Ukraine affected nuclear power plant supply

Russia on Thursday launched massive bombardments against Ukrainethe most important for weeks, which left at least nine dead and caused power outages, including the temporary interruption of supply to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

A few hours after the attacks, the Ukrainian electricity operator Ukrenergo announced the reconnection to the national grid of that power plant occupied by Russian forces for a year and ruled out the risk of a nuclear incident.

The cut had previously set off alarm bells at the UN nuclear body and the European Union.

“We play with fire”warned the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The attack constitutes “a serious violation of nuclear security, committed by Russia”affirmed for his part the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

The interruption of the electricity supply forced the plant to be cooled with diesel generators, which “increased the risk of nuclear accident” until reconnection with the electricity grid, he added.

In Transnistria, a secessionist territory of Moldova, the pro-Russian authorities claimed that they foiled an attack against its leaders and accused Ukraine of having orchestrated it. In the evening, they announced that they would call for a UN investigation.

“Russian retaliation”

Russia indicated that the bombardments, in which it used its new Kinjal hypersonic missiles, were in “reprisal” for an incursion into its territory on March 2 by “saboteurs” Ukrainians.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky denounced Russia’s “miserable tactics” after the bombing, which affected ten regions of the country and Kiev, the capital, targeting energy infrastructure.

The United States called those attacks “brutal and unjustified.”

According to the Ukrainian army, the anti-aircraft defense shot down 34 of the 81 missiles launched by Moscow, as well as four Iranian-made Shahed explosive drones.

None of the six Kinjal missiles used by the Russians could be shot down, according to kyiv.

Russia regularly bombs Ukrainian energy facilities, plunging millions of people into darkness and cold, but such attacks have become less frequent in recent weeks.

“They shoot randomly”

The shelling killed at least five people in the Lviv region (west), another in the Dnipro region (central-east) and three in Kherson (south), according to Ukrainian sources.

Oksana Ostapenko, from the village of Velyka Vilchanytsia, near Lviv, lost her sister and two brothers-in-law in a destroyed house. Two of her neighbors also died.

“They were partying [por un cumpleaños]then they went to sleep. And that was what happened”he explained. “We thought we were safe here” near the border with Poland, he added.

According to another villager, Igor Spilnyk, there is no critical infrastructure in the area and the Russians “They shoot randomly.”

The attacks cut off electricity, water and heating in the north-eastern city of Kharkov and left 40% of kyiv users without heating, according to authorities.

In kyiv, the explosions hit the southern and western districts, the mayor said. Three people were injured, according to police.

In the Prospekt Peremoguy area, in the west of the capital, three cars parked near an apartment building were charred and others were damaged, an AFP journalist said.

In eastern Ukraine, the battle for Bakhmut continues, a city that the Russians have been trying to conquer for months.

The head of the Russian Wagner paramilitary organization, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared that his fighters had seized the small town of Dubovo-Vassylivka, north of Bakhmut.

The invasion of Ukraine, more than a year ago, caused strong tensions in the world supply of cereals.

Russia announced a meeting with the UN in Geneva next Monday on the agreement that allowed guaranteeing the export of grains through the Black Sea, which expires on March 18.

Source: AFP