Kyiv:
Kiev and Moscow accused each other on Saturday of attacking the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, which has been shelled repeatedly over the past week.
Zaporizhzhya is the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and in Europe.
The factory has been under Russian control since March and Ukraine has accused Moscow of stationing hundreds of soldiers and storing weapons there.
“Limit your presence on the streets of Energodar! We have received information about new provocations by the (Russian) occupiers,” the Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said when it shared a message on Telegram from a local chief in the city of Energodar, where the plant is located. is located. .
The city remains faithful to Kiev.
“According to residents, there are new shelling in the direction of the nuclear power plant … the time between the start and the arrival of the shelling is 3-5 seconds,” the report said.
But pro-Moscow officials in the occupied territories in the Zaporizhzhya region blamed Ukrainian forces for the shelling.
“Energodar and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant are again under fire from militants of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky,” said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Moscow-installed government.
The missiles fell “in the areas located on the banks of the Dnipro River and in the factory,” he said, without reporting any casualties or damage.
The territories occupied by Russia and those under Ukraine are separated by the Dnipro River.
Kiev and Moscow exchanged allegations this month over several shelling at the factory, raising fears of a nuclear disaster and leading to an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
Ukraine said the first strikes on August 5 damaged a power cable and forced one of the reactors to stop working.
Then on Thursday, a pumping station and radiation sensors struck.
Ukraine, backed by Western allies, has called for a demilitarized zone around the factory and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)