London 10 August, London : G7 nations have condemned Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and demanded Moscow to “immediately return its complete control” to Ukraine according to media reports. Ukrainian employees who operate at the facility “must be capable of performing their job without fear of threat or pressure.
It is Russia’s surveillance of the facility that threatens the region” said the G7 foreign ministers declared in an announcement, BBC reported.
“The Russian Federation must immediately eliminate its troops from the borders internationally recognized by Ukraine and recognize Ukraine’s territorial integrity as well as its sovereignty.” the statement read.
The G7 have stated that they are “profoundly worried about the grave threat” that Russia’s actions pose in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, BBC reported.
They claimed that the actions of Russia’s military are significantly increasing the possibility of an nuclear accident or incident and putting at risk the people of Ukraine as well as the neighboring states and even the world community.
The G7 reiterate their “strongest condemnation” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that they describe as an “unprovoked and inexplicably armed conflict of aggression”.
They also claimed that Russia’s actions hinder the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify the security of nuclear activity in Ukraine, BBC reported.
The latest attack is an increase in the already tension-filled crisis in the region surrounding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the southern part of Ukraine.
Valentyn Reznichenko who is the chief of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration, claimed Russian forces employed Grad missiles to strike Marhanets the town located close to Nikopol.of Nikopol over the course of a night.
Russian forces, he said, fired 80 rockets “directed towards residential areas”, “deliberately and sneakily hitting people who were asleep in their houses”, BBC reported.
Buildings for apartments and administration structures were destroyed, he added, and thousands of people were not able to access electricity.
Russia hasn’t responded however, it has denied that it was the use of force against civilians.
Nikopol is located in the Dnipro river which runs alongside the Zaporizhzhia complex, Europe’s biggest nuclear power station that is in Russian occupation since the beginning of March.
Ukrainian officials claim that Russia has transformed the site into an army base, and has launched attacks from the site knowing that Ukrainian forces are not likely to respond with force due to the possibility of the possibility of an accident with nuclear weapons, BBC reported.
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