Moscow, Kyiv exchange accusations after Ukrainian nuclear plant shelled

Russia and Ukraine on Friday accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest of its kind in Europe, and laying the ground for a potential disaster.

Russia’s defence ministry said it was only by luck that a radiation accident had been avoided after what it described as an artillery barrage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky though said Moscow was responsible and accused it of committing “an open, brazen crime, an act of terror”.

In a late night address, he demanded sanctions on the entire Russian nuclear industry.

“It is a purely a security issue. Those who create nuclear threats to other nations are certainly not capable of using nuclear technologies safely,” he said.

The Russian defence ministry said the generating capacity of one unit had been reduced and power supply to another had been cut. In addition, the nearby city of Enerhodar had power and water supply problems, it said.

“Fortunately, the Ukrainian shells did not hit the oil and fuel facility and the oxygen plant nearby, thus avoiding a larger fire and a possible radiation accident,” a ministry statement said.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said this week that contact with the plant was “fragile” and communications did not function every day. He appealed for access to determine whether it was a source of danger.