During a joint press conference with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, this evening in Kyiv, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, considered that “the world was once again on the brink of catastrophe [lors de l’occupation russe de la centrale de Tchernobyl]because for the Russian army, [cette centrale était] as normal territory for the conduct of military operations..
“They didn’t even try to worry about nuclear safety”continued the Ukrainian president, accusing the Russian forces of having held on the territory of the power plant “a contingent of armored vehicles which destroyed the surface of the ground and raised an extraordinary amount of dust, in particular radioactive particles”.
Mr. Grossi revealed that there were “damage” and dug areas near the territory of the power plant, promising a detailed report soon and work to restore infrastructure.
“No state in the world after 1986 has created such large-scale threats to nuclear security in Europe and the world as Russia has created since February 24”, the day of his invasion of Ukraine, continued the Ukrainian president. On April 26, 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl power plant exploded, contaminating much of Europe, especially Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. baptized “exclusion zone”the territory within a radius of 30 kilometers around the plant is still heavily contaminated and it is forbidden to live there permanently.
If the Russian forces withdrew at the end of March from the Chernobyl power plant, they still occupy that of Zaporijia, in the south of Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky on Tuesday urged foreign leaders to “effective response” which would ensure Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, including through the intervention of blue helmets. “Even today they launched three missiles at Ukraine, which flew directly over the blocks of our nuclear power plants”he was alarmed.
Ukraine has 15 reactors in four power plants in operation, in addition to waste repositories, such as that of the Chernobyl power plant.