Emergency services are scrambling to put out a fire near a facility with an experimental nuclear reactor, according to early reports from Ukraine late Thursday.
Russian forces attacked the Institute of Physics and Technology Experimental, which is located in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and caused the fire, the Ukrainian parliament claimed in a social media post.
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“Russia just attacked Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology Experimental nuclear reactor is located inside. The shelling caused a fire in a neighboring hotel; the fight continues,” the Ukrainian legislative body tweeted.
Video of the fire circulated on social media Thursday afternoon. The fire took place at a nearby dorm, according to the parliament. It is unclear if there were any casualties as a result.
? Russia just attacked #Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology
Experimental nuclear reactor is located inside. The shelling caused a fire in a neighbouring hostel; the fight continues.#StopRussia #StopRussia #ClosetheSkyoverUkraine pic.twitter.com/H88CYHGl9C— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (@ua_parliament) March 10, 2022
A report from the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine said preliminary information indicates that the facility was de-energized and claimed that the Kremlin “committed an act of nuclear terrorism” with its attack. The report also said the facility was previously attacked by Russian forces March 6.
The Kremlin has been trying to gain control of Kharkiv over the course of its now-two-week-old invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces have surrounded the city and have been engaging in heavy fighting, according to a U.S. senior defense official. Prior to the invasion, the city had an estimated population of about 1.4 million people.
Earlier this week, Moscow alleged that Ukraine was plotting to blow up a nuclear reactor in Kharkiv and try to pin the blame on Russia. The allegations centered on the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology. The allegations were roundly dismissed by the West.
“Nationalists mined a reactor at an experimental nuclear system located at the [National Research Center of] Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology. The Ukrainian military and the Azov battalion militants are planning to blow up the reactor and accuse the Russian Armed Forces of allegedly launching a missile strike on an experimental nuclear system,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement to Russian state-run news agency TASS.
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This is not the first time fighting in Ukraine has provoked concerns about a nuclear disaster. Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that a Russian attack near a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia could create a catastrophe. Russian forces ultimately captured the facility.
