Russia-backed mayor of Ukraine nuclear plant town injured by explosion

The Russian-appointed head of the occupied Ukrainian town next to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was injured in an explosion on Sunday, a Ukrainian official and a Russian news agency said.

Andrei Shevchuk, who was appointed mayor of Enerhodar following the Russian army’s occupation of the town, was in intensive care following the attack, Russia’s RIA news agency reported, citing a source in the emergency services.

“We have accurate confirmation that during the explosion the self-proclaimed head of the ‘people’s administration’ Shevchuk and his bodyguards were injured,” Dmytro Orlov, who Ukraine recognises as mayor of the town said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Enerhodar is a town with a pre-crisis population of over 50,000. Many residents work at the two power plants located next to the town, one of which is the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power station in Europe. Ukraine has previously complained that Russia’s occupation of the plant raises the risk of a nuclear disaster.

Ukraine last week said it had attacked an armoured train carrying Russian troops in the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.