Kiev, Europe Brief News – The UN called for international inspectors to be given access to the Ukraine nuclear power station after it was hit by shelling on the weekend.
The attack heightened fears of a radiation disaster.
Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame over the incident; the head of the Russian-installed administration in Zaporizhia says the plant is operating as usual.
The head of Ukraine’s state nuclear power company has called for the Zaporizhzhia plant to be made a military-free zone and said there should be a team of peacekeepers deployed at the site.
Energoatom President Petro Kotin made the comments on Ukrainian television after Kyiv and Moscow accused each of shelling the nuclear power plant, which is Europe’s largest and is currently occupied by Russian forces, during the weekend.
Over the weekend, renewed Russian shelling damaged three radiation sensors and wounded a worker at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in the second such strike in consecutive days.
However, the Russian-installed authority of the area said Ukraine hit the site with a multiple-rocket launcher, damaging administrative buildings and an area nearby.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is Europe’s largest nuclear facility.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said he was alarmed by the reports of damage and demanded an IAEA team of experts urgently be allowed to visit the plant to assess and safeguard the site.
