• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Dexter Origins confirmed with plans for more serial killer spin offs
  • Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo
  • Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

Ukraine narrowly escapes nuclear catastrophe as plant loses power, Zelenskiy says

Towleroad August 26, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
Reuters
638742 origin 1

By Tom Balmforth and Max Hunder

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s president urged the world to act much faster to force Russian troops to vacate Europe’s largest nuclear power plant after the site was cut from electricity for hours in an incident he said risked an international radiation disaster.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian shelling on Thursday had sparked fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that disconnected the Zaporozhzhia plant from the power grid. A Russian official said Ukraine was to blame.

Back-up diesel generators ensured power supply vital for cooling and safety systems at the plant, Zelenskiy said, praising the Ukrainian technicians who operate the plant under the gaze of the Russian military.

“The key thing is…international pressure is needed that will force the occupiers to immediately withdraw from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he said in a video address on Thursday evening.

“The IAEA and other international organizations must act much faster than they’re acting now. Because every minute the Russian troops stay at the nuclear power plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster,” he said, referring to the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

Residents in Zaporozhzhia city, 50 km northeast of the plant and some 435 km (270 miles) to the southeast of Kyiv, expressed alarm at the situation.

“Of course I am scared. Everyone is scared, we don’t know what will happen next, what is waiting for us every next minute, second,” said social media manager, Maria Varakina, 25.

School teacher Hanna Kuz, 46, said people were afraid that the Ukrainian authorities might not be able to warn residents in time in case of radiation fallout.

Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom said one of the plant’s two functioning reactors had been reconnected to the grid and was again supplying electricity after it fully disconnected on Thursday.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in the occupied town of Enerhodar near the plant, blamed Ukrainian armed forces for Thursday’s incident, saying they caused a fire in a forest near the plant.

“This was caused by the disconnection of power lines from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station as a result of provocations by Zelenskiy’s fighters,” Rogov wrote on Telegram. “The disconnection itself was triggered by a fire and short circuit on the power lines.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday its forces had destroyed a U.S.-made M777 howitzer which it said Ukraine had used to shell the Zaporizhzhia plant. Satellite images showed a fire near the plant but Reuters could not verify its cause.

HOTSPOT

Energoatom said Thursday’s incident had been the first complete disconnection of the plant, which has become a hotspot in the six-month-old war.

Regional authorities in Zaporizhzhia said more than 18,000 people across several settlements remained without electricity on Friday due to damage caused to power lines.

A Reuters cameraman said there was electricity as normal on Friday in the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February, captured the plant in March and has controlled it since, though Ukrainian staff still run it. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the site, fuelling fears of a nuclear disaster. Zaporizhzhia city remains controlled by Ukrainian authorities.

The United Nations is seeking access to the plant and has called for the area to be demilitarised.

Germany on Friday condemned Russia’s continued occupation of the plant, calling the situation “very, very dangerous”.

Paul Bracken, a national security expert and professor at the Yale School of Management, said the concern was that artillery shells or missiles could puncture the reactor walls and spread radiation far and wide, much like the 1986 accident involving the Chornobyl reactor.

A failure at the Zaporizhzhia plant could “kill hundreds or thousands of people, and damage environmentally a far larger area reaching into Europe,” Bracken said.

“Russian Roulette is a good metaphor because the Russians are spinning the chamber of the revolver, threatening to blow out the brains of the reactor all over Europe,” he said.

FIGHTING

Russia’s ground campaign has stalled in recent months after its troops were repelled from the capital Kyiv but fighting continues along the frontlines to the south and east.

Russian forces control territory along Ukraine’s Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts, while the conflict has settled into a war of attrition in the eastern Donbas region.

Explosions were heard early on Friday in the southern city of Mykolaiv, a battleground as Russian forces try to push westwards along the coast to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea. The immediate cause of the blasts was unclear, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.

Ukraine said it had repulsed Russian assaults on Bakhmut and Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region and struck ammunition depots and enemy personnel in the southern Kherson region.

Ukrainian forces fired some 10 rockets from a U.S.-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher at the town of Stakhanov in the eastern Donbas region, pro-Moscow breakaway officials in Luhansk were quoted by Russia’s TASS news agency as saying.

Russian state news agency TASS said the deputy traffic police chief in the occupied Ukrainian city of Berdiansk was killed on Friday in a bombing. Its Russian-installed administration blamed the blast on “Ukrainian saboteurs”.

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The Odesa regional administration said the officer was wounded in an explosion carried out by what it called unidentified partisan fighters in Berdiansk.

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports of either side.

The Kremlin says its aim is to “denazify” and demilitarise Ukraine and remove perceived security threats to Russia. Ukraine and the West say this is a baseless pretext for a war of conquest.

($1 = 1.9548 marka)

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Gareth Jones and William Maclean; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Angus MacSwan)

638742 638742 origin 1 1
638742 638742 origin 1 2
638742 638742 origin 1 3
638742 638742 origin 1 4

Topics: A News More Posts About: Kyiv, Reuters, Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Related Posts
  • New York police abused demonstrators at George Floyd protest, report finds
  • Key winners at music industry’s 2023 Grammy Awards
  • Japan PM Kishida fires aide over same-sex couple outburst
  • Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

    Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

    Published by OK Magazine mega Tom Brady‘s latest sultry snap has fans drooling. On Monday, February 6, the legendary quarterback took to his Instagram Story to tease his 13.4 million followers with a stripped-down mirror selfie. …Read More »
  • Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

    Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

    Published by OK Magazine TLC Jazz Jennings has entered the dating pool — which has turned out to be more of a rocky, dating dance. In the sneak peek of the Tuesday, February 6, episode of …Read More »
  • Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

    Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

    Published by Global Voices A screenshot of Google maps (Jakarta). Composed by Sydney Allen via Canva Global Voices has extensively cataloged the pressures, violence, hate speech, and oppression queer people face all over the world. Whether …Read More »
  • Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

    Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

    Published by Raw Story A Christian school in Kansas City is being forced to close after its donations almost completely dried up ever since it came out in support of LGBTQ rights. The Kansas City Star …Read More »
Previous Post: « Noah Schnapp: Stranger Things producers didn’t love us going through puberty
Next Post: Robbie Williams to be focus of Netflix docuseries »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Ivanka Trump ‘Doesn’t Trust’ Donald Trump Jr.’s Fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, Claims Insider: ‘Sees Her As A Desperate Social Climber’

    Ivanka Trump ‘Doesn’t Trust’ Donald Trump Jr.’s Fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, Claims Insider: ‘Sees Her As A Desperate Social Climber’

  • A Secret Weapon in Preventing the Next Pandemic: Fruit Bats

    A Secret Weapon in Preventing the Next Pandemic: Fruit Bats

  • Explainer-Biden’s State of the Union address and what to expect

    Explainer-Biden’s State of the Union address and what to expect

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • ‘At Least You Know I’m Singing Live’: Adele FORGETS The Lyrics To Her Award-Winning Song At Las Vegas Residency Before Grammys

    ‘At Least You Know I’m Singing Live’: Adele FORGETS The Lyrics To Her Award-Winning Song At Las Vegas Residency Before Grammys

  • ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director SLAMS Michael Jackson Biopic Starring Late King Of Pop’s Nephew, Claiming It Will ‘Glorify A Pedophile’

    ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director SLAMS Michael Jackson Biopic Starring Late King Of Pop’s Nephew, Claiming It Will ‘Glorify A Pedophile’

  • Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals Sandy Gallin and Dolly Parton’s ‘little known’ Buffy the Vampire Slayer role

    Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals Sandy Gallin and Dolly Parton’s ‘little known’ Buffy the Vampire Slayer role

RSS Partner Links

  • Princess Kate wore stripes in a video for Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week
  • Courtiers have hatched a plan to not invite Duchess Meghan to the Chubbly
  • Chris Brown Apologized To Robert Glasper After His Post-Grammy Loss Tantrum
  • Murray Bartlett On Aging Up For THE LAST OF US + Santos Facing Probe (In A Bad Way) + Lea Michele Opens Up About GROWTH Since GLEE + Her Name Is Barbra, Guys! + MORE! — 6-PACK
  • 24-Year-Old Shawn Mendes Is Rumored To Be Dating His 51-Year Chiropractor
  • Brandi Glanville Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Caroline Manzo Was Why She Got Kicked Off “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip”
  • Stephanie Hsu & Ashley Park Go For A 'Joy Ride' With Friends

Most Recent

  • Dexter Origins confirmed with plans for more serial killer spin offs

    Dexter Origins confirmed with plans for more serial killer spin offs

  • Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

    Retired, Single & Sexy! Tom Brady Holds His Hand Over His Private Parts In Nearly Nude Selfie — See Photo

  • Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

    Jazz Jennings Admits ‘Nervous’ Remark From Date Left Her Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ In New Sneak Peek

  • Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

    Queering the internet: anonymous online spaces for LGBTQ+ people

  • Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

    Pro-LGBTQ Christian school forced to close after being ‘bombarded by hate’

  • Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ may prefer death to life under Taliban

    Afghanistan’s LGBTQ+ may prefer death to life under Taliban

  • Hogwarts Legacy seemingly adds first transgender Harry Potter character

    Hogwarts Legacy seemingly adds first transgender Harry Potter character

  • Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style

    Grammy Awards: Men’s fashion steals the red carpet in stereotype-shattering style

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×