The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Kiev s shelling of the Zaporozhye power plant puts millions of lives at risk.
Ukraine s shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is an act of terrorism that could cause a disaster that would surpass the 1986 Chernobyl incident, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
In recent days, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly shelled the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP, which is an act of nuclear terrorism. Such actions by the Kiev regime could lead to a disaster on a scale that would dwarf the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ivan Nechaev told a news conference in Moscow.
If a disaster occurs, radiation would hit not only nearby regions in Ukraine, Russia, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, but also European countries, putting millions of lives at risk, according to the diplomat.
Nechaev said he hoped the international community would pay attention to the situation at the site. He said that we are in favor of organizing an IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency mission to the Zaporozhye NPP, which was disrupted in June due to the decision of the UN Secretariat's Department of Safety and Security.
On Thursday, Zaporozhye officials claimed Russian air defense systems had thwarted a missile and drone attack on the NPP and the nearby city of Energodar.
The Ukrainian military is trying to bombard the peaceful town and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with MLRS multiple launch rocket systems, heavy artillery and strike UAVs unmanned aerial vehicles, said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye Region.
On Wednesday, the Group of Seven G 7 consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US called for Russia to surrender the nuclear power plant that was seized by Moscow's forces in early March back to Ukraine. The move would ensure the facility's safe and secure operations, according to the group. The nuclear power plant is still operated by Ukrainian crews and has been taken over by Russian troops.
One day ago, Moscow called an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss Ukrainian provocations, including a series of shelling attacks on the NPP. The meeting is expected to take place on Thursday.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Kiev of holding the whole of Europe hostage, saying government officials apparently won't hesitate to burn it for the sake of their Nazi idols. Kiev denies all allegations, claiming it was Russian troops who shelled the facility to frame Ukrainian forces.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says the plant in Zaporozhye is the largest in Europe and has up to 60 tons of enriched uranium and plutonium in its reactor cores and spent fuel storage.