Russian and Ukrainian authorities have accused each other on Sunday of provoking a Fire in one of the cooling towers from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is located in the part of Ukraine under Russian control.

Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom has reported the fire and said it has received “two impacts by Ukrainian drones that would have caused flames inside the structure.” Hours later, Vladimir Rogov, spokesman for the main council of the military-civil administration of Russia’s Zaporizhia region, said the fire had been “completely extinguished,” he said on his Telegram channel.

Zaporizhia Governor Yevgeny Balitsky has sent a Message of reassurance to residents concerned about the fire while emergency services were extinguishing the fire. The six reactors at the plant are in a cold shutdown state, so there is no risk of any kind of steam explosion, as explained by the pro-Russian governor. According to Russian sources, the attack was carried out by “kamikaze” drones launched from the city of Nikopol, on the western bank of the Dnieper River.

For its part, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, He has indicated that he has “received news” that “Russian occupiers have started a fire on the territory of the nuclear power plant” And although radiation levels are within normal limits, he said that “as long as Russian terrorists maintain control of the nuclear power plant, the situation will not and cannot be normal.”

“From the first day of its seizure, Russia has been using the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant solely to blackmail Ukraine, the whole of Europe and the world,” he said on his profile on the social network X. “Russia must be held accountable for this. Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant can guarantee a return to normality and complete security,” he concluded.

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “have seen strong dark smoke coming from the northern area of ​​the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant after multiple explosions heard during the afternoon,” it said in a message posted on its account on the social network X.

“The team has been informed of an alleged drone attack today against one of the cooling towers at the site. No impact has been reported that poses a risk to nuclear safety,” he added, before recalling that “any type of fire, both in the infrastructure and in its surroundings, represents a risk of fire spreading to facilities essential for safety.”

According to the IAEA, the plant has confirmed to the team that There is no risk of high levels of radiationas there is no radioactive material in the immediate vicinity of the suspected attack site. The team has independently verified the radiation levels and confirmed that they have not changed.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has reiterated that any military action against the plant represents a violation of the principles established by the UN Security Council. “These reckless attacks endanger the nuclear safety of the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” he said.