Berlin 22nd August : The heads of Germany, France, Britain and the US have called on the two sides to be more restrained over Ukraine’s troubled Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant , and to allow UN inspectors to be granted immediate access to the massive plant.The Zaporizhzhya plant, which is located in the south of Ukrainian city of Enerhodar was taken by Russia in the middle of March.
The conflict has intensified in the plant in the past few weeks, triggering warnings from world leaders of an imminent escalation of violence.
US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke about Zaporizhzhya and the larger Ukrainian conflict in phone calls on Sunday.
They came to an agreement on “the necessity to avoid military operations in the vicinity of the facility” and also for nuclear experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to examine the plant in order to ensure its security and safety according to a White House statement said.
In Germany Scholz’s spokesperson said the two sides were in agreement “that support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression will continue on a regular basis.”
The largest nuclear power plant with six reactors is strategically important to Ukraine’s power supply.
Kiev declares Russian troops make use of the facility as a defense from which to shoot at sites on the opposite side of the Dnipro reservoir, since it is aware that Ukrainian forces are hesitant to fire on the sensitive area.
The Kremlin and its local representative have claimed that Ukrainian “terrorists” are the who are firing the shots.Russia claims it believes that Ukraine has been bombarding the facility with the aid of drones heavy artillery, heavy artillery and rocket launchers.
In the majority of instances, Russian air defence intercepts the projectiles, according to the report.
However, some infrastructure has been damaged before, but the crucial safety systems and controls haven’t been damaged.
There has been no increase in radioactivity detected to date.
Russia has resisted international calls to pull its troops out of the plant However, it has said it will permit IAEA experts to evaluate the plant.
However, a number of disputes between Moscow and Kiev regarding the specifics of what a possible transportation route for IAEA inspectors could be slows down the process.
Former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who is the younger brother of Kiev mayor and former world champion boxer Vitali Klitschko He said it was unclear how Ukrainian operating personnel working in the plant were doing.
“The world must be aware that if (Zaporizhzhya) is being destroyed, there’s likely to be Fukushima and Chernobyl in several instances,” he told Britain’s Times Radio on Sunday.
He claimed that the plant and the nuclear experts who work there were taken “hostage” by Moscow.
Additionally in the meantime, the Ukrainian General Staff said late Sunday that it had stopped Russian advance in the eastern Donetsk region towards the cities of Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Avdiivka.
A legislator from the Russian-controlled region of the south region of Kherson said that Ukrainian forces were successful in taking down the Russian ammunition depot in a counteroffensive during the weekend.
On the Sunday the 179th day of the conflict in the war, the Russian side announced that its air defences have repelled a variety of Ukrainian attacks during the weekend.
This was also the case for the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea that was annexed to Russia in 2014 according to Russian authorities.
Air defences stopped “objects” which were en route to the Russian Belbek military airfield close to Sevastopol the main port city’s chief of administration Mikhail Razvoshev posted on Telegram late on Sunday.
On Saturday morning there was an explosion in Sevastopol.
Russian reports stated that a drone had attacked Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, but there were no injuries.
In Crimea which is part of Ukraine as per international law, there have multiple explosions, including one that hit an ammunition depot.
Kiev is pleased about the attacks, but hasn’t yet acknowledged responsibility for them.
int/khz/
.
