Russian Forces Take Control Of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, Claims Western Media

Russian forces said that they have taken control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which is one of Europe’s largest on Friday, news agency Reuters reported citing officials from the regional state administration.

Earlier on Friday morning, Ukraine and the rest of world was concerned regarding a nuclear disaster after alleged shelling from the Russian forces led to a fire in the perimeter of the nuclear power plant.

Firefighters doused the fire and there was damage to the compartment of reactor No. 1 at the Zaporizhzhia plant, news agency Associated Press (AP) said in a separate report. The regional military administration in a statement also said that there is no threat to the safety of the plant.

“(Radiation levels) remain unchanged and do not endanger the lives and health of the population,” the administration said in a statement accessed by AP.

The Ukrainian officials speaking to the news agency and atomic energy watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that radiation levels were not that dangerous.

Following the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia plant, atomic energy experts were concerned if a Chernobyl-like event would occur putting lives at risk. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky received calls from US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Boris Johnson among others who expressed concern that the rise in hostilities could also have triggered a nuclear event.

Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television in the immediate moments after the shelling that the firing hit the facility directly and set fire to one of the six reactors. He outlined that the reactor was under renovation but said that it contained nuclear fuel inside.

Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of Enerhodar – the city where the plant is located – confirmed that the fire was extinguished. He further added that Russian shelling ceased around dawn and asked its 50,000 residents – most of whom had escaped to shelters – to return home. The city faces electrical outages and residents could not access heating facilities as the shelling damaged the heating main, AP reported.

Kherson is the major Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians as one week since Russian president Putin announced a so-called ‘military operation’ in Ukraine.

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