The Russian-appointed civil and military administration in the Zaporozhye region renewed the accusation of Ukrainian forces of bombing the nuclear plant there. The administration released pictures of what it said were the remnants of US-made missiles used by the Ukrainian military to bomb the nuclear plant two days ago.
The pro-Moscow administration accused the United States, Britain and Poland of participating with Ukraine in the attack on the Zaporozhye plant. The Ukrainian army had accused the Russian forces of targeting the station, and said that it had detected radiation emitted by the bombing.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian Military and Civil Administration in Zaporozhye, said that they are calling for an international commission to monitor and find out the source of the fire on the nuclear plant.
In order to ensure the safety of the site and allow the arrival of an inspection mission, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the United States on Thursday called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around Zaporozhye.
American position
On the other hand, a senior official in the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said that there is no imminent threat to the safety of the Zaporozhye nuclear plant in Ukraine, but the situation may change.
The US official added that the Russians had previously launched missiles from the vicinity of the nuclear plant, and that he did not believe that the Ukrainians had an interest in bombing the plant.
The US official also explained that the Russians made gains in the Bakhmut region in Donetsk, but at a great cost.
Ukraine recently warned of the danger of a nuclear catastrophe like Chernobyl, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Thursday the international community to “immediately act” to remove the Russians from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which was targeted by bombings.
The Ukrainian president said Thursday that the Russian bombing began to cause radiation to leak into Europe through the air. He stressed that Russia bombed the Zaporozhye plant despite its knowledge of the seriousness of this matter, and stressed that the plant is the third largest nuclear plant in the world.
The Russian forces had taken control of the Zaporozhye station on the fourth of March, a few days after the start of the war. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and is located in the southeast of Ukraine, and its vicinity is witnessing air attacks, which Moscow and Kiev exchange accusations about.
The plant – which includes 6 nuclear reactors – provides about 20% of the total electricity in Ukraine, and has a production capacity of about 5,700 megawatt-hours.
Bombing Russian supply lines
On the level of other field developments, the Ukrainian army announced on Friday that its artillery had hit a Russian ammunition depot near a major bridge in the south, adding that it now had the ability to bomb almost all Russian supply lines in this area.
The Ukrainian military added that the attack killed 11 Russian soldiers in the warehouse in the village of Visyl, about 130 km from the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
There has been no comment from the Russian authorities yet on the report on the attack in Kherson province or the alleged extent of Ukrainian firepower.
Ukraine’s Southern Command spokeswoman Natalia Homenyuk said almost all Russia’s supply routes in the south are under “fire control”, which means Ukraine is able to hit them with long-range weapons whenever it wants to.
Prisoners of war
On the other hand, the Ukrainian security services issued a joint statement on Friday calling on the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send representatives to the sites where Russia is holding Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The request follows earlier allegations by Kyiv that Russian forces tortured and executed prisoners, including the bombing of a Ukrainian POW camp in Olenivka.
For its part, Moscow accuses Ukraine of bombing the facility, which killed more than 50 prisoners of war.
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