The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned those behind the powerful explosions that rocked the area around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), saying that they are playing with fire.
Experts say the continued attacks could possibly lead to the next world war.
"In what appeared to be renewed shelling both close to and at the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, IAEA experts at the ZNPP reported to Agency headquarters that more than a dozen blasts were heard within a short period of time in the morning local time," the IAEA, which has experts based at Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, said in a statement. People in the agency claimed they could even see some of the explosions from their office windows.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the news was extremely disturbing and he called the explosions completely unacceptable. "Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately," he said. He further appealed both to Moscow and Kyiv to implement a nuclear safety and security zone around the nuclear plant as soon as possible. However, none of the two parties has given any feedback or agreed to the request.
Meanwhile, Renat Karchaa, who is an adviser to the head of Russia's Rosenergoatom nuclear power company, said the shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear site was still ongoing as of November 20.
"They have not only shelled yesterday, but they are also shelling today, shelling right now. As of now, about 15 hits at nuclear power plant facilities have been recorded. Any artillery strikes on the nuclear plant put nuclear safety at risk," he told Russia's TASS news agency.
The plant's six water-cooled reactors are currently shut down, but there is a risk that nuclear fuel could overheat if the power that drives the cooling systems is shut. The area around the plant, including the nearby Russian-occupied town of Enerhodar, had been under attack for months.
Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attacks
According to Rosenergoatom, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been attacked by Ukraine. Even though no radiation leak has been detected, shells that had been fired were found near a dry nuclear waste storage facility and a building that houses recently spent nuclear fuel.
The Russian military claimed that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's team has been staging a "provocation," with 15 aerial strikes that included the one that hit the storage facility. "Kyiv does not stop its provocations aiming at creating the threat of a man-made catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," the Russian army said in a statement.
Kyiv, on the other hand, accused the Russian military of shelling ZNPP, allegedly hitting its infrastructure facilities at least 12 times.
State Enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom, the government agency that operates all four nuclear power plants in Ukraine, said Russia was once again "putting the whole world at risk." It said that the list of damaged equipment indicated that the attackers "targeted and disabled exactly the infrastructure that was necessary for the restart of 5th and 6th power units" and the restoration of power production for Ukrainian needs.
As winter approaches, Ukraine grapples with dwindling electricity supply after the said relentless bombing campaign. (Related: Ukraine grapples with power interruptions as winter approaches.)
WWIII.news has more stories related to continued ZNPP attacks that could lead to the next world war.
Watch the video below that talks about the shelling of different regions in Ukraine.
This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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