War in Ukraine: tense situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

Russia has conquered large areas in southern Ukraine and wants to incorporate them. Meanwhile, the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, continues to deteriorate.

The situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. Several artillery shells reportedly fell in the town of Enerhodar, where the power plant employees live, on Sunday evening.

As in the previous days, the Russian and Ukrainian sides blamed each other for the shelling. Videos from both sides showed that numerous cars were burning in residential areas. A few hours earlier, Russian troops had allegedly shot down an armed Ukrainian drone directly over one of the six reactors.

Both sides blame each other

The night shelling of the city injured nine people, two of them seriously, said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the occupation administration, on Monday night. With such steps, Ukraine wants to prevent experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from visiting the nuclear power plant.

The information could not be independently verified. The escaped Ukrainian mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlow, spoke of a provocation: Russian troops had fired. He accused Moscow of “nuclear blackmail” because Russian troops are entrenched in the nuclear power plant.

The international community fears a possible nuclear accident caused by the fighting at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Two reactors went into emergency shutdown last week because the power supply was intermittent. There are still no safety guarantees for the expected journey of the IAEA experts.

Selenskyj announces counterattacks

Russian attacks were reported along the front line and from several regions in the Ukrainian hinterland on Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the next steps to counter the invasion with the military and security apparatus. He did not give details, but announced: “The occupiers will feel the consequences in the further actions of our defenders.” On Monday it was 187 days since Russia started the war against the neighboring country.

No attack on Ukrainian cities will remain unanswered, said President Zelensky after the consultation with the military: “Zaporizhia, Orikhiv, Kharkiv, Donbass – they will get an answer for everyone.” According to the Office of the President, the meeting dealt with the situation at the front, the needs of the army and coordination with international partners.

According to the authorities, the Rivne region in northern Ukraine was attacked with Russian rockets on Sunday evening. Activists from neighboring Belarus linked the attack to several Russian warplanes taking off from airfields in Belarus. The ruler there, Alexander Lukashenko, made his country available to the Russian troops as a deployment area against Ukraine. Two rockets also hit the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday evening, as Mayor Ihor Terekhov announced. An administration building was destroyed.

Russia wants referendums

Dozens of places along the more than 2,000-kilometer-long front line have been shelled by Russian tanks, tube and rocket artillery, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Russian assaults were repelled in several places in the Donbass. The Kremlin is preparing the ground for referendums on the annexation of the occupied territories. High-ranking Kremlin official Sergey Kiriyenko put out a number that said that in the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, 91 to 92 percent of the population were in favor of joining Russia. In the Cherson and Zaporizhia areas, which have been conquered since February, it is 75 to 77 percent. Kiriyenko was citing surveys in the region that allegedly showed these results.

“The decision is pending,” said the deputy head of the presidential office. President Vladimir Putin has always said that the decision lies with the people of the region and that Russia will respect their choice. The Russian and Ukrainian media have repeatedly speculated about referendums in the occupied territories in September. Russian online portal Medusa, which operates out of Latvia, reported, citing sources in the Kremlin, that support for joining was much lower.