Moscow dismisses Zelensky's claims that Russia is planning to attack Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday (June 22) that Moscow isconsidering launching a "terror attack" at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Since the beginning of the war last year in February, the Russian-controlled nuclear plant has remained a flash point between the two nations.

Zelensky released a video statement, saying that Kyiv was sharing its information with international partners about the plant.

Without revealing the source, he said, "Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - a terrorist act with a release of radiation. They have prepared everything for this."

"Unfortunately, I have had to remind (people) more than once that radiation knows no state borders. And who it will hit is determined only by the direction of the wind..." Zelensky added.

According to Zelensky, Russian forces are reportedly orchestrating a radiation leak.

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Russia dismisses claim

Russia and Kremlin dismissed the claim by Ukraine calling the allegation "another lie". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that a team of UN nuclear inspectors had visited the plant and rated everything there highly secure.

On the same day, Russia even announced that UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi would be arriving in the Russian region of Kaliningrad to meet with the head of Russia's nuclear agency.

Zaporizhzhia is a city in south-eastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper. The strategically important city is known for its island of Khortytsia and Dnieper Hydroelectric Station.

Before the war, Zaporizhzhia NPP used to be a powerful electricity supplier in Ukraine. The plant used to generate 40-42 billion kWh of power which accounts for one-fifth (20 per cent) of the average annual electricity production in Ukraine and for almost 47 per centof electricity generated by Ukrainian NPPs.

The plant is located in the steppe zone of Ukraine, on the bank of the Kakhovka water reservoir, which was recently breached causing massive flooding in adjacent regions. Zelensky also said intelligence agencies had gathered new evidence of how Russian forces blew up the dam and other structures at the hydroelectric plant. "It was a completely deliberate, calculated crime," he claimed.

Russia captured Zaporizhzhia at the start of the war and an attack on March 4 renewed fears that the invasion could result in damage to one of Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.It could trigger another emergency like the 1986 Chornobyl accident, the world's worst nuclear disaster.Experts claimthat if the nuclear plant blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl.

(With inputs from agencies)

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