KIEV, UKRAINE (AP) – The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has expressed growing concerns about the safety of Russia-held nuclear power plants near the front lines of fighting in Ukraine.Â
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi persuades Russian and Ukrainian officials to set up a safe zone around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to prevent war from causing potential radiation leaks I tried to persuade him to do so, but failed for months.
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant stands next to the occupied city of Enerjodar. Ukraine has regularly opened fire on Russian fronts, and Russia has repeatedly shelled Ukrainian-controlled communities across the Dnieper. Fighting has intensified as Ukraine prepares to launch a long-promised counteroffensive to retake territories occupied by Russia. Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that Russian troops fired more than 30 shells in the town of Nikopol, almost directly across from a factory, killing a 72-year-old woman and injuring three others.
“The general situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous,” Grossi warned.
Grossi said the evacuation of civilians from Enerkhodar and 17 other communities, ordered on Friday by Yevgeny Baritsky, the Russian-incumbent governor of Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhya province, is a further escalation.
“I am very concerned about the very real nuclear safety risks facing the facility. need reliable power for critical cooling systems to prevent potentially catastrophic radiation hazards. For months, analysts have pointed to the southern region of Zaporizhia as one of the targets of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in the spring, with Kiev’s forces blocking Russia’s “land corridor” to Crimea, and Russian forces It is speculated that it may try to divide the Azov Sea coast into two.
Balitsky said Ukrainian forces have stepped up their attacks on the region in recent days.
Some of the fiercest ongoing fighting has taken place in the eastern town of Bakhmut, and despite Russia trying to occupy the town for over nine months, Ukrainian forces are still on the western outskirts. holding a position.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that Russian forces had captured two more districts in the west and northwest of the city, but did not provide further details.
Ukrainian special forces accused Russia of using phosphorus in the city on Saturday and released a new video on Sunday showing the white fire of such ammunition. International law prohibits the use of white phosphorous or other incendiary weapons  in areas where civilians may congregate However, they are also used to light and create smoke screens.
Elsewhere, Russian shelling took place in the southern region of Kherson on Saturday, killing six civilians and killing 4 more overnight in the southern region of Kherson, according to a Telegram update released by the local government on Sunday. a person was injured.
Five civilians were wounded in the eastern Donetsk region, the epicenter of fighting in recent months, local governor Pablo Kirilenko reported Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have attacked Russia’s largest port in Crimea overnight with drones, a local official stationed in the Kremlin told Telegram early Sunday morning.
