Solène Leroux, edited by Alexis Rey-Millet
The bombings near the site of the Zaporizhia power plant in Ukraine are causing growing concern about the growing risk of a nuclear accident. The United States has called on Russia to cease all activity near Ukrainian nuclear sites, while the latter blames the strikes on Ukraine.
The United States has called on Russia to cease all military activity near Ukrainian nuclear sites. At the end of last week, several strikes targeted areas close to the site of the Zaporija power plant and its reactors. Since then, Moscow and kyiv have rejected responsibility for the bombings in an area under Russian control. The vagueness reigns over the responsibility of the two belligerents since no independent source can confirm in the state which of the two is attacking the area.
Russia and Ukraine are alarmed by the situation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the bombing of Zaporizhia is “potentially extremely dangerous”. He adds: “It could have catastrophic consequences for a vast area, including for European territory”.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky no longer hesitates to make the comparison with the Chernobyl disaster 36 years ago. “There is not a single nation in the world that can feel safe when a terrorist state bombs a nuclear power plant. If something irreparable happens, no one will stop the wind that will respond to radioactive contamination” , he warns.
Calls to create a demilitarized zone around the site
A fear shared by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which considers the information coming from Zaporijia more and more alarming, while one of the reactors had to be stopped after an attack. According to nuclear specialist Teva Mayer: “If the supply of electricity is interrupted by a bombardment, the essential cooling of the reactors and the storage of spent fuel can no longer be ensured, which could cause an accident”.
The boss of the Ukrainian nuclear agency, Petro Kotin, calls for the creation of a demilitarized zone on the Zaporijia site, currently occupied by around 500 soldiers and 50 heavy vehicles.