Kyiv, Sep 7: Russia renewed its shelling in the area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a local official said Wednesday, a day after the UN atomic watchdog agency pressed for the warring sides to carve out a safe zone there to protect against a possible catastrophe.
The city of Nikopol, located on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was fired on with rockets and heavy artillery, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said.
The reports of nearby shelling, which couldn’t be independently verified, have caused international alarm.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, warned the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that “something very, very catastrophic could take place” at Zaporizhzhia.
“There are fires, blackouts and other things at the (plant) that force us to prepare the local population for the consequences of the nuclear danger,” Reznichenko said.
The potential peril led the UN atomic watchdog agency to urge Russia and Ukraine to establish a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv officials would immediately commit to the idea of a safety zone, saying more details of the proposal were needed.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow will press on with its military action in Ukraine until reaching its goals and mocked Western attempts to drive Russia into a corner with sanctions.
Putin told at an annual economic forum in the far-eastern port city of Vladivostok that the main goal behind sending troops into Ukraine was protecting civilians in the east of that country after eight years of fighting.
“It wasn’t us who started the military action, we are trying to put an end to it,” Putin said, reaffirming his argument that he sent troops into Ukraine to protect Moscow-backed separatist regions in Ukraine, which have fought Ukrainian forces in the conflict that erupted in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
“All our action has been aimed at helping people living in the Donbas, it’s our duty and we will fulfill it until the end,” he said.
Putin charged that Russia has strengthened its sovereignty in the face of Western sanctions, which he said bordered on an aggression. (Agencies)
