The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has been captured by the Russian forces.
This was claimed by Ukraine’s nuclear regulator on Friday.
According to Ukraine’s nuclear regulator, Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Friday morning.
The agency also informed the fire that broke out at the nuclear plant due to Russian shelling has been extinguished.
Radiation levels remain unchanged, though there are damages to several units of the facility, Ukraine’s nuclear regulator informed.
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Ukraine’s emergency service department said that the fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar was doused at 6:20 am (Kyiv time).
No casualties were reported in the fire incident.
Earlier Ukraine’s foreign minister Dymtro Kuleba had said: “If it (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl.”
A fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, after Russia opened artillery shelling.
Nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television channels that shells were falling directly on the facility and had set on fire one of its six reactors.
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That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the ten largest in the world.
Meanwhile, Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson said that the “reckless actions of President Putin could now directly threaten the safety of all of Europe”.
US President Joe Biden also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the situation.