Russia, Ukraine spar at UN over nuclear plant dangers

Russia and Ukraine traded accusations Tuesday over who was endangering the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, as the United Nations urged both sides to insulate the Ukrainian facility from the ongoing war.

Russia called the meeting at the UN Security Council to discuss the dangers that close shelling and a military presence posed to the power plant in southern Ukraine, amid fears that a damaged reactor could leak radiation across the region.

Russian troops have controlled the plant for weeks and allegedly have placed arms and war supplies there, something that Moscow denies.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant, heightening the danger of a nuclear disaster.

Since the Security Council last discussed the issue nearly two weeks ago, “the nuclear safety situation has further deteriorated”, Nebenzya said.

“The armed forces of Ukraine continue basically every day to shell the territory of the nuclear power plant (NPP) and the town of Enerhodar, and this creates a real risk of a radiation accident,” he said.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador, countered that Russia is responsible for the risk and must pull its troops away and allow inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency into the plant.

“We once again urge the parties to provide the IAEA mission with immediate, secure and unfettered access to the site,” she said.