A screenshot of the video released by Ukrainian President Zelensky shows that on August 11, 2024, a fire broke out at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Accusation.
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Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for Sunday’s fire at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the latest incident as Ukraine continues its incursions into Russian border territory.
Ukrainian officials said Russian troops started a fire at the factory, which has been occupied since March 2022, while the Kremlin-appointed governor of the Zaporozhye region said Ukrainian shelling was the cause of the fire.
The occupied nuclear power plant has been a frequent point of conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with both countries repeatedly accusing each other of launching high-risk drones and shelling at or near the plant, endangering the safety of the facility and potentially triggering a nuclear disaster.
In the latest flare-up of tensions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of setting fire to the ZNPP in the town of Enekhodar but said radiation levels there were normal.
“Things will not and cannot be normal as long as Russian terrorists continue to control the nuclear power plant. From the first day it seized the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Russia has been using it to blackmail Ukraine, the entire Europe and the entire country.” world,” Zelensky said.
A view of the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on June 15, 2023.
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The Russian-appointed governor of the Zaporozhye region disputed that claim, saying in a social media update posted on Google Translate that Ukrainian shelling was to blame for the fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Post on TelegramA drone hit one of the factory’s cooling towers and started a fire, Yevgeny Balitsky said, adding that emergency services in the area had located and extinguished the flames.
Balitsky claimed: “The Ukrainian regime, with the support of NATO leaders, is systematically shelling the entire north of the Zaporozhye region, where drones, barrel artillery and mortars can reach it. But measures are being taken All measures are taken to limit the consequences of these attacks.
He said he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who “clearly expressed growing alarm and concern about strategic infrastructure, including nuclear power plants.”
Neither side provided evidence to support their claims. CNBC was unable to verify their report.
On June 15, 2023, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors appeared at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a rotating team of inspectors at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to maintain safety protocols, X said in a statement on Sunday During the night, experts witnessed “intense black smoke” coming from the northern area of the factory and “multiple explosions” occurring throughout the night.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it was aware of an alleged drone attack on one of the cooling towers early Sunday. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it has not yet had any impact on nuclear safety.
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Tensions between Moscow and Kiev have increased further in recent days after Ukrainian troops invaded the Kursk region on the Russian border.
The border attack, which began last Tuesday, appeared to have caught Moscow off guard, with the Russian Defense Ministry last Thursday revising initial estimates to say about 1,000 troops and a large number of tanks and armored vehicles were involved in the incursion.
A senior Ukrainian security official told AFP on Sunday on condition of anonymity “Thousands” of soldiers took part in the operationwhich marks Russia’s attempt to “expand” and “destabilize”. CNBC could not verify the report.
Screenshots from the video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense show that on August 8, 2024, the Russian army launched a missile attack on the military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area near Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
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Acting regional governor Alexei Smirnov said about 3,000 people in the region had been evacuated as Ukrainian drone and missile attacks continued. He posted on Telegram on Monday The threat of drone attacks persisted, and it said Russia’s “air defense forces and assets have been put on alert to repel a possible attack”.
As a result, the Kiev invasion disrupted Russia’s summer offensive in eastern Ukraine, forcing Moscow to redeploy troops to Kursk.
Last week, Russian defense officials claimed that their faction had blocked Ukraine’s advance on Kursk. Meanwhile, geolocation footage and Russian military blogs showed Ukrainian troops present in a 35-kilometer stretch of Russian territory. According to analysis by the think tank Institute for War Studies.
On August 11, 2024, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers drove Soviet-made T-64 tanks in the Sumy region near the Russian border. Russia admitted on August 11 that Ukrainian troops had launched an offensive deep into the Kursk border area. A senior Ukrainian official said that this move was aimed at “destabilizing Russia” and “expanding” its military strength.
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ISW pointed out that Ukraine’s actions in Kursk gave the Ukrainian army, at least temporarily, the battlefield initiative in a certain area of the front line.
ISW said: “Since November 2023, Russia has held theater-wide initiative, which has allowed Russia to determine the location, timing, scale and requirements of operations in Ukraine and forced Ukraine to expend materials and manpower in reactive defense operations. ”
“However, Ukrainian actions in the Kursk Oblast (region) forced the Kremlin and Russian military command to react and redeploy troops and means to areas where Ukrainian forces launched attacks.”
ISW said Putin and the Russian military command “may have mistakenly believed that Ukraine lacked the capabilities to counter this initiative”.
This photo posted by the channel of the acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexey Smirnov, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, shows damage after shelling from the Ukrainian side in the city of Sudja, Kursk region, which borders Ukraine of houses.
Kursk Region Governor Telegram Channel (AP)
Ukraine has been traditionally tight-lipped about recent moves into Russian border territory. Kursk yes The region has experienced smaller, shorter incursions in recent months and has been subject to more frequent Ukrainian drone strikes and artillery strikes.
Russia and Ukraine say they do not target civilian areas.
However, President Zelenskyy acknowledged the attack on Sunday, referring to Ukraine’s “actions to push the war into the territory of the aggressor.”
Zelensky said he was grateful to Ukraine for “ensuring this” and that “Ukraine is proving that it can indeed deliver justice and guarantee the required pressure on the aggressor.”
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