Smoke Rises Amid Reports of Renewed Shelling at Ukrainian Nuclear Plant

Storyful
1 年前

Smoke was reported at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Thursday, August 11, amid reports of renewed shelling at the facility.

Russia accused Ukraine of striking the plant, but Ukrainian officials and Energoatom, the state enterprise that operates the plant, disputed the claim and said Russia was responsible.

The US State Department called for a demilitarized zone to be implemented in the vicinity of the plant. The spokesperson also called for Russian troops to withdraw from the area and “return full control to Ukraine” for safe operation, according to Reuters.

Energoatom said that in the case of nuclear catastrophe, the zone of contamination will reach two million square km (approximately 772,200 square miles), and give over one million people radiation poisoning.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is “gravely concerned about the unfolding situation” and added that damage to the plant “could lead to catastrophic consequences.” Credit: Sergio Olmos via Storyful