The head of the United Nations condemned recent shelling directed at a nuclear plant in Ukraine, warning on Monday that such attacks are “suicidal.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s warning comes after both Russian and Ukrainian forces accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine. The U.N. chief also called for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to be given access to the Russian-controlled nuclear facility.
“Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing. I hope that those attacks will end, and at the same time I hope that the IAEA will be able to access the plant,” Guterres said at a news conference in Japan, where he attended the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Saturday to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the bombing.
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Ukrainian officials said Russian shelling on Saturday damaged radiation sensors at the plant and injured a worker. The Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, has been under the control of Russian forces since early March but is being operated by Ukrainian technicians.
“There is no such nation in the world that can feel safe when a terrorist state fires at a nuclear plant,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
“God forbid, if something irreparable happens, no one will stop the wind that will spread the radioactive contamination. Therefore, a principled response of the international community to these Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia NPP — the largest in Europe — is needed right now,” Zelensky added.
The Russian Embassy in Washington claims it is Ukrainian forces that are putting the plant in danger.
“Ukrainian nationalists launched an artillery strike on the territory of the specified object on Aug. 5. Two high-voltage power lines and a water pipeline were damaged as a result of the shelling. Only thanks to the effective and timely actions of the Russian military in covering the nuclear power facility, its critical infrastructure was not affected,” the embassy said.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi warned on Wednesday that the situation at Zaporizhzhia is “completely out of control,” saying that the situation is growing increasingly perilous.
“Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated” at the plant, Grossi told the Associated Press. “What is at stake is extremely serious and extremely grave and dangerous.”
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Last month, Russian officials accused Ukraine of attacking the plant with kamikaze drones, wounding several workers.
The plant in southern Ukraine has been transformed into a Russian military base to shield troops and artillery from Ukrainian attacks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
