Kiev August 27, : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of an imminent catastrophe in the beleaguered Zaporizhzhya nuclear power station in the southern part of Ukraine following an outage in power caused an emergency shut down of two of the reactors at the plant. “I want to emphasize that the situation is risky and hazy,” Zelensky said in his Friday evening video address.”Any repeated incident .could once more put the power station on the edge of catastrophe.”
Zelensky has also reiterated his request for the formation of a team of international experts to examine the facility, and for Russian troops who are occupying the facility to leave as reported by the dpa news agency.
On Thursday an isolated blackout shut out power to the facility, thereby increasing the possibility of an nuclear catastrophe.
The Ukrainian authorities blamed the blackout on Russian shelling however, the Russians have claimed they believe that the Ukrainian military was responsible.The claims of neither side could be independently confirmed.
After the power outage the plant was able to stay clear of an accident that could have been fatal because of its power supply in emergency.The reactors were both closed in an emergency situation within a short time.
The power supply was restored to both of the reactors on Friday, Ukrainian officials confirmed.
“Today at 9.15 p.m.the second of the units that shut down yesterday was connected to the grid,” Enerhoatom said on Telegram late on Friday.
Russia offered a different version of the events they claimed that power supply was restored earlier in the day.
Russian troops have been occupying the plant since shortly following the beginning of the conflict in February but the fears of an nuclear disaster have increased since fighting broke out in the plant earlier in the month.
Enerhoatom officials have repeatedly have repeatedly accused of the Russian group of plotting an attack in the region, and warned Moscow that it is playing with the fire while it cuts power lines to enable fresh offensives in the region.
International Atomic Energy Agency director Rafael Grossi has indicated that he is willing to go to the Zaporizhzhya plant with an entourage of experts.However there is no agreement yet been reached on how to bring the group to the facility.
In the wider war this Friday, Donetsk region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko stated that Kiev was in the control of approximately 45 percent of the eastern Ukrainian region, despite being located on the frontline of the conflict.
Prior to the Russian invasion on the 24th of February around two-thirds of the area was under Ukrainian control, with the remainder in the control of pro-Russian separatists.
On the international stage the chief of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill is not expected to attend an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan this month according to an announcement made to Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.
The news is significant since many had hoped that Pope Francis would be able to hold talks at the ceremony with Kirill who is believed for his close connections with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to revive negotiations on the end of the conflict.
int/shs
