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Russian soldier at the Zaporizhia facility (as of May 2022)
Photo: AP
The area around the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia is currently moving more and more into focus during the Ukraine war.
Fighting broke out again on Sunday - and for the second time in a few days Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the southern Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
The Ukrainian army fired a rocket at the nuclear power plant on Sunday night, the Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing the occupation administration in the city of Enerhodar, where the power plant is located.
The Ukrainian nuclear agency Enerhoatom, on the other hand, accused the Russians of shelling the site under their control themselves.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is calling on both sides to allow international nuclear experts unimpeded access to the facility.
Warnings are now coming from the highest level.
Any attacks on a nuclear power plant are "suicidal," said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, referring to reports of renewed shelling of Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
According to Guterres, the danger of a nuclear confrontation is "back again after decades" - even apart from the delicate situation surrounding the nuclear power plant.
Nuclear nations should commit to not using these weapons for the first time, Guterres said at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday ahead of the weekend's Hiroshima peace memorial ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the first atomic bombing.
For weeks there has been criticism that the Russian troops are using the power plant as a protective shield for their own artillery, which fires at Ukrainian-controlled areas from there.
The nuclear power plant is located in the Russian-occupied part of southern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also commented on the situation around Zaporizhia in his video speech every evening.
He renewed his accusations against Russia for shelling the nuclear power plant.
There must be a "principled response from the world community," he demanded.
Notification of fire and temporary shutdown
There had already been attacks on Zaporizhia on Friday.
The Ukrainian nuclear company Enerhoatom announced that the shelling had damaged a high-voltage line to the neighboring thermal power plant.
A block of the nuclear power plant had been shut down.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said the electricity and water supply had failed in parts of Enerhodar.
In addition, one block of the power plant had to be partially shut down.
A fire on the factory premises could be extinguished.
The information could not be independently verified.
Inspectors hardly come into the war zone
Ukraine's foreign ministry has appealed to the international community to ensure that the Russians return control of the nuclear power plant to the Ukrainians.
Should a reactor be hit while it is in operation, the possible consequences are "tantamount to the use of a nuclear bomb," warned the authorities in Kyiv.
Only in the middle of last week did the International Atomic Energy Agency express its concerns about the situation around the power plant, which, with six blocks and an output of 6,000 megawatts, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
An inspection to check technical safety is urgently needed, said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi.
But it is currently very difficult for the IAEA to even get into the war zone in Zaporizhia.
jok/Reuters
