KYIV: The mayor of the city where Europe’s largest nuclear reactor is located said on Sunday that the potential of disaster is “growing every day,” after Ukraine and Russia traded blame for new shelling surrounding the facility.
Russian military have controlled the Zaporizhzhia factory in southern Ukraine since March, and Kiev has accused Moscow of basing hundreds of soldiers and storing armaments there. The facility has been targeted several times in the last week, heightening the prospect of a nuclear disaster.
“What is going on there is plain nuclear terrorism, and it might end at any time,” said Dmytro Orlov, mayor of Energodar, where the plant is located.”The situation is dangerous, and the most concerning aspect is that there is no de-escalation procedure,” he continued. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of nuclear “blackmail” and of using the facility to “intimidate people in an absolutely cynical way.”
