Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy warns of nuclear disaster amid IAEA inspection of plant

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other to this day of causing chaos in the area near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility in one of the escalations in the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned this week that a nuclear disaster may happen should the bombardments near the area continue.

In his nightly video address Monday, Zelenskyy warned of a near “radiation catastrophe” in the continued fighting in the area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility. Zelenskyy added that even with an inspection by the UN nuclear watchdog, Russia would not care what the agency would say in its assessment.

“Again – already for the second time – because of Russian provocation, the Zaporizhzhia station was placed one step away from a radiation catastrophe,” said Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy’s comments come as the West and Russia are in the middle of an energy standoff as Moscow has kept its main gas pipeline to Germany shut.

The International Atomic Energy Agency released a statement, citing the information Ukraine provided, saying the facility’s backup power line was cut to extinguish a fire, but the line itself was not damaged and would be reconnected.

The IAEA added that the facility has enough electricity to operate safely and will be reconnected to the grid when the backup power is restored. The watchdog is set to release a fuller assessment on Tuesday.

Amidst the concerns over the nuclear facility, Kyiv has also reported progress being made by Ukrainian forces in its counter-offensive, which started last week. Ukrainian officials shared an image of troops raising a Ukrainian flag over a town in the occupied Kherson province in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv also told residents of Russian-annexed Crimea Monday to prepare bomb shelters and stock up on supplies as Ukrainian troops are set to move towards a major counter-attack to drive Russian forces out of the area.

This follows previous reminders by Ukraine to the residents of its southern territories to prepare and evacuate before they launch a counter-offensive.

Monday’s warning was notable as it addressed residents of Crimea. While the Black Sea peninsula is believed to be out of range of Ukrainian weapons, the recent explosions in air bases in the annexed region have questioned the belief. Kyiv has also denied claiming responsibility for the incidents.