The International Atomic Energy Agency, in a report released today Tuesday, called for a “safety zone” to avoid any nuclear accident at the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, as “the current situation cannot continue.” It.
In a 52-page report, the UN body emphasized that “the adoption of interim measures is urgent,” calling for the “creation of a nuclear safety zone” at the compound in southern Ukraine.
The agency stressed that “the bombardment of the facility and its surroundings must be stopped in order to avoid causing further damage to the facilities,” noting the “extremely tense conditions” in which the Ukrainian crew work at the station under the supervision of Russian forces. .
The plant has been bombed several times in recent weeks, raising fears of a dangerous nuclear accident, while Kyiv and Moscow blame each other for this.
For its part, Russia today, Tuesday, accused the Ukrainians of re-bombing the station.
“Over the past day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired 15 times from artillery at the city of Energodar and the area (in close proximity) to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
She added that three shells fell on the site of these objects, one of which exploded near the water tanks near the second reactor, but the radioactivity is still “within the normal range.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on its recent mission to the Zaporozhye station has been made public, and “its director general, Rafael Grossi, will present his report to the UN Security Council.”
The publication of the report takes place the day after the separation of the last reactor, which was still working at the station, located in the south of the country. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement that the line, which is connected to a nearby thermal power plant, was “deliberately disconnected to put out the fire,” noting that it was “undamaged” and should be reconnected as soon as possible. as much as possible.
For its part, the Ukrainian state company Energoatom, which operates the station, wrote on the Telegram app that the fire “started because of the bombing.”
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk called for the creation of a humanitarian corridor for civilians wishing to leave the area around the station.
After tense negotiations, an International Atomic Energy Agency delegation was able to travel Thursday to the site of the plant, which includes six reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each, which was captured by Russian forces in March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
Grossi announced to the press after touring the station with his crew that the station’s “material integrity” had been “broken many times” by repeated bombardments. “This cannot go on,” he added, without naming those responsible.
The next day, Kyiv announced that it had bombed a Russian base in the nearby town of Energodar.
Most of the IAEA team left the station on Friday. Six specialists remained at the site, four of whom left on Monday morning, and two must remain there permanently.
Meanwhile, in its morning report on Tuesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported three Russian missile strikes during the day and more than 35 air strikes, as well as about 50 bombings using multiple launch rocket systems.
For their part, the Ukrainians delivered about thirty strikes, the General Staff reports, adding that “the coordinated actions of aviation and artillery made it possible to strike at several Russian military targets, especially artillery and anti-aircraft systems.”
Four civilians were injured in a bomb blast in the eastern region of Donetsk on Monday, Governor Pavel Kirilenko said on Tuesday. Local authorities said that a school had been destroyed there in the town of Kurakhove, without giving details.
According to Oleg Senegubov, the governor of the region, a 73-year-old woman died in the northeast as a result of shelling by Russian troops in Kharkov on Monday night.
According to its governor, Igor Terekhov, a Russian bomb hit an apartment building in the city center this morning.
On the same day, in the Dnepropetrovsk region (central), there was a major fire in one of the tanks for oil products after the Russian attack on Krivoy Rog, Zelensky’s hometown, said the governor of the region, Valentin Reznichenko.
In the afternoon, a senior official said the disaster was now “limited”.
In the southeast, the head of the administration set up by the Russians in the port of Berdyansk was badly injured when his car was blown up by “Ukrainian terrorists,” according to local authorities.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday took part in a large-scale military exercise involving a number of allied countries, including China.
His country generated €158 billion in fossil fuel export revenue during a six-month war that benefited from soaring prices, according to an independent think tank report released Tuesday calling for more effective sanctions.
The European Commission presented in detail proposals aimed at tightening the conditions for issuing visas to Russian citizens and providing for the non-recognition of Russian passports issued in the occupied regions of Ukraine.
