Ukraine announced on Thursday that Russian forces had seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after fierce fighting on the first day of Russia’s offensive against the former Soviet Union country.
“After a fierce battle we lost control of the Chernobyl site”said Mijailo Podoliak, chief adviser in the office of President Volodomir Zelenski, after the government reported fighting near the nuclear waste deposit of the damaged plant in 1986.
After the loss of control of this area, which is highly contaminated, the state of the plant’s facilities, the cover that isolates the damaged reactor and a deposit for nuclear fuel is unknown, said the senior official.
“After this absolutely senseless attack by the Russians, it is not possible to say that the nuclear plant is safe.” Podoliak added.
“This is one of the biggest threats to Europe today”he stated, estimating that the Russians could organize “provocative” activities on the spot to blame Ukraine.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that it was still “the situation with great concern” and asked “the utmost restraint to avoid any action that endangers the country’s nuclear sites.”
In the case of Chernobyl, the UN body was not informed by its Ukrainian counterpart of “destruction”.
“It is vitally important that operations in this area are not affected or interrupted in any way,” insisted its general director, Rafael Grossi.
The plant suffered the worst nuclear accident in history on April 26, 1986 when one of the reactors exploded at a time when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, whose capital was Moscow.
The disaster that contaminated three-quarters of Europe hit Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, another former Soviet republic, especially hard.
After the accident at this plant located a hundred kilometers from Kiev, 350,000 people had to be evacuated within a perimeter of 30 kilometers and to this day there are controversies about the balance of victims.
Source: AFP
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
:quality(75)/cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5Sv0wyWa/poster.jpg "Russian troops seized the Chernobyl plant, says the Ukrainian presidency")
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
