ZAPORIZHIYA, UKRAINE ( AFP):The UN’s chief of nuclear energy warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting on Monday that the dangerous situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “has not improved”. We are in danger of one catastrophe.
His six reactors at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant are shut down, and the power needed to prevent a reactor meltdown comes from his one remaining transmission line. A backup diesel generator had to be switched on from time to time to power essential cooling systems.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi is scheduled to visit a Russian-owned power plant this week. The Vienna-based agency has staffed its factories permanently after the Russian invasion 13 months ago. In a meeting with Zelensky, reported exclusively by The Associated Press, Grossi said the situation at the plant was tense due to the military presence around it and the recent blackout that hit the plant. said. Last year, there were repeated terrorist attacks by the Russian military.
Earlier this month, power to the facility was cut for half a day, and employees had to turn on backup generators.
His permanent IEA presence at all Ukrainian nuclear facilities marked an unprecedented expansion for the IAEA. Its presence includes the now closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fatal nuclear accident of 1986 had ripples across much of Europe.
Grossi stressed that his seventh visit to Ukraine underscored his commitment and support “as long as it lasts”.
The meeting was also attended by other IAEA officials, the head of the president’s office Andriy Yermak and the head of the nuclear operator Energoatom Petro Cochin. During his stay in Zaporizhia, Zelensky inspected military positions in the partially occupied province and bestowed military honors on soldiers. He also visited wounded soldiers in hospitals and apartments where Kiev was attacked by Russian forces on Wednesday, claiming at least one person was killed.
Hannah Vudkova, 39, was with her nearly two-year-old daughter on a busy playground in front of her apartment block when the rocket struck, but she said she was still shaken by the incident. said.
Although Russia denies attacking residential areas, artillery and rocket attacks hit Ukrainian homes and civilian infrastructure every day during the war.
The attack on Sloviansk followed the typical pattern of long-range artillery fire employed by the Kremlin army, especially in recent months as fighting stalled over the winter. In the eastern Donetsk region, about 10 towns and villages have been shelled by Russian forces in the past 24 hours, according to reports from the Ukrainian president’s office.
Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiuka, damaging homes, hotels and courts, sources said.
Avdiivka mayor Vitali Barabash said utilities were on the front lines evacuating the city because it “more and more resembles an apocalyptic movie landscape.”
Attacks also increased in the Zaporizhia region, where 14 frontline settlements were shelled, officials said.
In the partially occupied Kherson region, Ukrainian-controlled areas of the province were bombed 20 times, wounding four people, the president’s office said.
President Yermak said Zelensky had previously met British actor Orlando Bloom in Kiev. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Bloom arrived over the weekend to visit the suburb of Irpin.
During his meeting with Zelensky, Bloom said he was “impressed by the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people who remain strong despite the war.”
Bloom will “support humanitarian aid delivery and infrastructure repair projects focused on protecting the interests of Ukrainian children,” the official said.
