Volodymyr Zelensky invites Elon Musk to visit Ukraine, after his controversial peace plan proposal

Ukrainian chief engineer of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant appointed new director

The Ukrainian chief engineer of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, occupied by the Russian army, has agreed to take over the management of this infrastructure that Moscow has appropriated, according to a press release published on Wednesday. ” I took my decision. In my opinion, this is the only possible and correct decision: to accept the proposal (…) to run the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant”announced Yuri Tchernichuk in a press release published on the Telegram account of the power plant.

The information was relayed by Rosenergoatom, the Russian nuclear electricity operator which has managed the de facto site since its occupation by Russian forces. Yuri Tchernitchuk was until then chief engineer of this nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and which is located in the region of the same name, which Russia claims the annexation. He felt he had to take charge of the site to ensure the proper functioning of the plant in very difficult circumstances. “We have done and we are doing the possible and the impossible so that the world does not know new [accidents nucléaires comme] Fukushima and Chernobyl »he said in the statement.

For several months, Moscow and kyiv have accused each other of bombing the plant, raising fears of the risk of a nuclear accident. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly condemned the character “unacceptable” of these strikes. On November 17, it adopted a resolution calling on Russia to withdraw from the Ukrainian power station in Zaporizhia.

On October 5, President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree for Russia to formally appropriate the nuclear installation, a few days after the general manager of the plant appointed by kyiv, Ihor Murachov, was kidnapped by a “Russian Patrol”, according to the Ukrainian operator Energoatom, before finally being released. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has positioned 500 Russian soldiers at the site of the Zaporizhia power plant.

Calls to demilitarize the site have multiplied by the IAEA and the international community, without success so far.

source site-29