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War in Ukraine: “We prevented an attack on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” say the Russians

“THE Russia foiled a Ukrainian attack on Russian-held territory nuclear power plant of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine” a high-ranking Russian official pointed out on Thursday (3/11).

Repeated bombing of the station area has raised the possibility of a major accident just 500 km from the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl, in 1986.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has repeatedly expressed concerns about the bombing of the plant area, has proposed the creation of a nuclear safety and protection zone around the plant.

THE Ukraine says Russia has repeatedly bombed the station area while Russia says Ukraine has bombed the station area. Both sides reject the other’s claims.

“Ukrainian forces are still shelling the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant with Western weapons that could lead to global catastrophe,” said Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

Patrushev pointed out, as reported by the Athens News Agency, that the Russian special forces foiled what it called a “terrorist attack” against the station.

Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power company said today that the station was again disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling severely damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving it with only diesel generators.

Energoatom also said Moscow wants to connect the station to the Russian grid.

The station in southern Ukraine, the largest in Europe, has enough fuel for 15 days to run the generators, it said.

Although the six reactors have been shut down, they need a constant supply of electricity in order to maintain the nuclear fuel inside them and prevent a nuclear disaster.

“Yesterday… the last two high-voltage lines of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), connecting it to the Ukrainian energy system, were damaged. At 11:04 p.m. the station went into full blackout mode [blackout]. All 20 diesel generators have started working,” he said in a message on the Telegram messaging app.

“In the near future, (Russia) will try to repair and connect the ZNPP communication lines in the direction of the temporarily occupied Crimea and Donbas,” noted Energoatom, whose personnel continue to operate the station despite its occupation by the Russian forces.

The station, which provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity before Russia’s February 24 invasion, was forced to run on backup generators at times after it was seized by Russian forces shortly after the war began.

Source: News Beast

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