On the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the Ukrainian president warned today about the risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhia station, which has been seized by Russian forces Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Russian military took control of this nuclear plant, located in southern Ukraine, almost immediately after its invasion of the country. Before its seizure, the Zaporizhia station produced 20% of Ukraine’s electricity.
“It has been 785 days since the Russian terrorists took the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant hostage,” Zelensky complained to Kh.
“Free Zaporizhia station and return it to Ukrainian control”
“It is up to the whole world to put pressure on Russia to release the Zaporizhia station and return it to the control of Ukraine,” he added, estimating that “this is the only way to avoid new disasters” like that of Chernobyl.
On April 26, 1986, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located about 100 kilometers north of Kiev, exploded.
This nuclear accident, considered the worst in history, caused the contamination of vast areas, mainly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
On the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, Russian forces entered the highly radioactive exclusion zone around Chernobyl through Belarus and seized the plant, which is no longer operational.
They stayed there for a month before leaving and looting equipment, according to Kiev.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant continued to operate in the first months after the Russian invasion, despite its occupation by Russian forces and shelling of the surrounding area. It stopped working in the fall of 2022.
Kiev and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of bombing the area around the nuclear plant.
Tags: Zelensky Warns nuclear accident Zaporizhia #38th anniversary Chernobyl
