A major Ukrainian nuclear power plant near Kyiv was ablaze, and firefighters were watching helplessly as Russian forces shelled it, sparking fears of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials issued assurances that no elevated radiation levels had been detected, and Ukraine’s State Emergency Service posted to Telegram to say that around 5:20 a.m., roughly 40 firefighters “responded to the fire at the training building of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.” An hour later, the “fire at the Zaporizhzhia NPP training building in Enerhodar was extinguished. There are no dead or injured,” the emergency service said in another statement reported by CNN.
Ukrainian authorities also reported that Russian military forces had occupied the plant.
The Zaporizhzhia plant in the city of Enerhodar, which supplies a quarter of Ukraine’s power, is one of the world’s largest nuclear facilities, with six reactors.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials raised the alarm about the attack on the nuclear facility located in eastern Ukraine. Firefighters were reportedly unable to fight the blaze because Russian forces were firing artillery at them.
“Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter early Friday morning local time. “Fire has already broke out. If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!”
Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of the nearby town of Enerhodar, also shared a dire warning.
“A threat to world security!!! As a result of relentless shelling by the enemy of the buildings and blocks of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is on fire!!!” Orlov posted to Facebook. “I demand, stop! Immediately stop shelling the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant point blank,” he added in a video, according to CNN.
Russian forces already have taken control of Chernobyl, which famously was the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, but they have allowed the facility’s officials to continue operating at the site. The conflict around Zaporizhzhia surged just hours after Russia voted against a resolution calling for the security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities on the grounds that it overstated the threat posed to the plants.
“Russia is requested ‘to cease all actions against nuclear facilities,” Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov, who leads the Russian mission to the international organizations in Vienna, protested on Twitter after the vote. “We asked 3 times to provide concrete facts in this regard. Total silence in response.”
That resolution, drafted by Poland and Canada, passed with the support of 26 members of the 35-nation board that oversees the International Atomic Energy Agency after the agency’s lead official warned that the chances of “a release of radioactive material” due to the fighting are on the rise.
“This is an ongoing military conflict taking place in a country that has a vast nuclear program,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters Wednesday. “So there you have a distinct possibility that something may happen that could affect the containment of a place where you can have — for example, there were two situations in places where Ukraine has nuclear waste, low-level waste from hospitals and other activities. So what you could have is a release of radioactive material if that happens.”
Video appeared to show the fighting going on at the nuclear plant.
My God. The mayor of Enerhodar reports Russian military strikes at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant. Here’s the video. https://t.co/9VJSjpDH8g
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) March 4, 2022
Grossi expressed confidence that Russia would not attack a nuclear site intentionally, though he emphasized that the risk of “an accidental hit” is clear from recent explosions at nuclear facilities around the country. “We have had cases where places, facilities, the facility … have been hit accidentally or not by shelling — or, even in one case, a missile,” the IAEA chief said Wednesday.
At Zaporizhzhia, according to Rubio, Russian forces have attacked with mortars and RPGs. He added that Russian forces are “firing on the firefighters” as they attempt to put out the blaze.
#Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in #Ukraine has 6 reactors, is the largest one in all of Europe, and the 9th largest on earth #Russia is currently attacking it with mortars and RPGs
Portions of the plan are currently on fire
Russians firing on the Firefighters too
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 4, 2022
Ukraine’s nuclear facilities provide “more than half of the electricity of the country,” Grossi noted.
“We are delivering a strong message to Russia that their aggression in Ukraine is threatening vital nuclear safety & security,” Canada’s mission to the U.N. organizations in Vienna declared after the IAEA vote. “We call on Russia to cease all actions against nuclear facilities in Ukraine.”
