New strike on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, say Russian authorities

Russian occupation authorities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine said on Sunday that an attack by Ukrainian forces had destroyed administrative buildings within the complex, as reported by AFP. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia, which Russia took control of early in its attack, has recently been the target of military operations that have resulted in the destruction of a number of structures and the forced shutdown of a reactor.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned on Saturday of "the very real risk of a nuclear disaster" as Russia and Ukraine laid the blame for the strikes on one another. The projectiles from the attack, which was carried out by the Ukrainian army and launched from an Uragan rocket launcher, "fell within 400 metres of a working reactor," according to Russian occupation authorities in the city of Energodar, where the plant is located, on Sunday.

The strike occurred in a "zone storing used nuclear fuel" and caused damage to certain administrative buildings. It was impossible to independently verify the information. Since the beginning of their offensive, Russian forces have been occupying the Zaporizhzhia plant, and Kyiv has accused them of keeping heavy weaponry there.

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The plant has been targeted, according to Moscow, by Ukrainian forces. The strikes that took place on Friday, according to the facility's operator in Ukraine, Energoatom, "caused a serious risk for the safe operation of the plant." Energoatom said on Saturdaythat the hits "seriously damaged" a station that contained nitrogen and oxygen as well as an auxiliary structure. They also damageda power line and prompted one of the reactors to stop operating.

(with inputs from agencies)