Fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant extinguished amid ongoing occupation

The main fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been extinguished, the Russian news agency TASS, citing the Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom, reported late Sunday night into Monday. Russian forces have occupied the plant for two years.

The Ukrainian energy company Enerhoatom wrote on Telegram that one of the cooling towers and some other plant equipment were damaged.

Rosatom confirmed this, as quoted by TASS. According to the Russian occupation authorities, the cooling tower was out of operation and there is no threat of radioactive contamination for the residents of Enerhodar, near which the plant is located. The agency also reported that the fire had been extinguished.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Telegram that "Russians started a fire in the cooling tower of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant" and that since its capture, "they have been using it for nuclear blackmail."

"Russian occupiers set a large number of tyres on fire in the cooling tower of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. This is an attempt to cause panic," reassured Yevhen Yevtushenko, head of the Nikopol district administration. A representative of the Ukrainian authorities warned of a possible provocation or an attempt to cause panic in the towns on the right bank of the former reservoir. Yevtushenko emphasised that "the plant operates normally, as much as possible under occupation conditions." "Radiation levels are normal. Please remain calm," he appealed.

Meanwhile, Russians maintain that "the plant was attacked by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone."

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, has been occupied by Russia since early March 2022. Since then, Russian forces have repeatedly shelled the plant area, creating, in the view of authorities in Kyiv, a radiation hazard with unpredictable consequences. (PAP)