Ukraine Accuses Russia of Holding Chernobyl Plant ‘Hostage’

On Monday, the head of the United Nations’ atomic energy organization met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to alert him to the deteriorating situation at Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. The UN official warned that the relentless fighting near the plant is putting it in danger of a nuclear disaster.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is deploying personnel to all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to reduce the potential danger of an accident. 

This week, Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will be making a trip to the plant under Russian control. Since Russia’s invasion happened one year ago, the Vienna-based agency has permanently stationed workers at the facility.

At the beginning of the month, a disruption in the power supply caused the plant to go without electricity for twelve hours, prompting staff to turn on their backup generators.

Amid the conflict in Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia facility has had to endure the loss of several of its power transmission cables. This has meant that emergency diesel generators had to be used multiple times to keep essential cooling systems running, averting a meltdown.

Still, Grossi was highly concerned about this advancement. “We are gambling,” he warned his organization at that moment. “If we keep on doing this repeatedly, eventually, our fortune will be depleted.”

In January, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declared that it was sending teams of specialists to all four of Ukraine’s nuclear power stations to lower the chances of accidents occurring.

The agency has also set up a continuous presence at all Ukrainian nuclear power sites, a first in its history. This includes the Chernobyl plant, which had a devastating nuclear disaster in 1986 that spread radiation across most of Europe.

Grossi expressed that his seventh journey to Ukraine reinforced his dedication and backing for “as long as it takes.”

The meeting was additionally attended by IAEA representatives Andriy Yermak, who holds the head of the presidential office, and Petro Kotin, the leader of the nuclear state operator Energoatom.

During his time in Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskyy had a chance to examine military posts in the partially-occupied region and presented military accolades to the troops. Additionally, he visited injured personnel in hospitals in the city. The Russian forces hit an apartment edifice that Kyiv maintained the prior Wednesday, leading to the death of a minimum of a single individual.

In a separate incident on Monday, Ukrainian officials reported that two people were fatally injured and 29 others were injured when Russian forces targeted the city of Sloviansk in the eastern Donetsk region, which is partially occupied.

Videos of the consequences revealed buildings damaged, streets littered with wreckage, and burning automobiles. Volodymyr Zelenskyy labeled the attack as an act of “terrorism.”

Despite evidence of artillery and rocket strikes impacting Ukrainian residential areas and civilian infrastructure daily during the war, Russia has continuously refuted the allegation that they are aiming at civilian targets.

In recent months, the Kremlin’s forces have adopted a common strategy of shelling from a distance, as demonstrated in the Sloviansk attack. This approach has been used mainly during the prolonged winter fighting when temperatures plunged.

On Monday, the Ukrainian presidential office declared that during the preceding 24 hours, ten cities and towns in the eastern Donetsk region had been bombarded by Russian forces.

According to the reports, at the start of the week, Russian-launched missiles impacted Avdiivka, causing damage to properties such as dwellings, a hotel, and a court of law.

“I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies,” the city’s military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said on the Telegram messaging app.

Because of these new events, Ukraine has asked for a special UN Security Council meeting to be held in response to the nuclear ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the partially controlled southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, authorities reported that shelling occurred in 14 locations along the line of conflict.

The president’s office reported that four individuals were injured in the Ukrainian-controlled area of Kherson province when Russian artillery and aircraft launched twenty bombardments.

On Monday, the mayor of Melitopol, an occupied city, revealed that several blasts had occurred in the area, damaging the building where Russian security personnel had been stationed.

Ivan Fyodorov, the mayor, put up pictures of the clouds of smoke which could be spotted coming from the region where the Russian army quarters are situated.

The authorities put in place by Russia reported that the shelling of Melitopol had caused extensive destruction to a vocational school and other structures and injured four individuals.

In November 2022, shelling near the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine sparked fears of a potential nuclear disaster. Russia accused Ukraine of being responsible for the shelling, while Kyiv denied involvement and blamed Moscow. The United Nations nuclear chief called the shelling “playing with fire” and urged both sides to de-escalate tensions.

“Whoever it is, stop this madness!” Grossi said at the time. “The people who are doing this know where they are hitting. It is absolutely deliberate, targeted.”

 The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the incident and called on all parties to immediately cease hostilities to prevent further damage to the plant. In response, Russia announced it might have to shut down the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant due to safety concerns. In addition, Ukraine implemented a planned blackout to protect its citizens from potential radiation exposure.

Grossi was highly concerned about this advancement. “Each time we are rolling a dice,” he told his agency. “And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day, our luck will run out.”