Ukraine says Russian shelling hits Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukraine said the Soviet-era site was hit by Russian shelling on Friday and Saturday and has called for the plant to be demilitarized.

According to Energoatom, Ukraine's national energy company, the Russian attacks have caused damage to several buildings, putting one reactor offline and raising the threat of radiation leaks and fires.

Russia's defense ministry said Ukrainian artillery hit the plant, damaging a high-voltage power line that served the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

The claims of either side have not been verified by NBC News.

As the head of Energoatom, Ukraine's national energy company told NBC News on Saturday that there was a raised threat of disaster and 54,000 people were without power as a result of the shelling.

The plant is located in Zaporizhzhia, an area of southeastern Ukraine that was seized by Russian forces in the early stages of the war and may now be in the sights of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Petro Kotin, head of Energoatom, said Russian forces should withdraw and hand control to a team of peacekeepers.

He told NBC News on Saturday that Russia needs to release Zaporizhzhia's nuclear power plant and make a no-military zone around it. The radiation levels could be increased at any moment, according to Kotin. He warned that there was a real danger of nuclear catastrophe and radiation catastrophe due to huge amounts of spent nuclear material that could be hit by rockets.

Energoatom alleged Monday that Russian forces had placed mines in the power plant and warned that further fighting could cause a huge disaster.

According to a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's intelligence division, Andriy Yusov said on Ukrainian TV: There is confirmed information about the mining of the power units by the Russian occupying forces of the power units of the Zaporizhia NPP in Energodar. Moscow has yet to respond to the accusation. NBC News asked the Kremlin for a response.