DRAMATIC footage has captured thick black smoke billowing from a Ukrainian nuclear power plant occupied by Russia.
Smoke can be seen pouring out of one of the plant’s cooling towers tonight, posing the spectre of a nuclear disaster during Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
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Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the south of the country has been a flashpoint during the war.
Russia seized it from Ukraine in a firefight in March, 2022, after sending tanks and troops with RPGs to take the sensitive area.
The Russian-installed regional governor of Zaporizhzhia, Yevgeny Balitsky, said tonight the fire had been caused by a Ukrainian shelling.
Ukraine believes that is a lie, with one commander saying that Russian forces had set fire to “a large number of automobile tires in cooling towers,” the Kyiv Independent reported.
He said: “Six units in the power plant are in cold shutdown, there is no explosion or other danger.”
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky shot back saying that Russia used the plant to blackmail the world.
He said: “Currently, radiation levels are within norm.
“However, as long as the Russian terrorists maintain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal.”
“Since the first day of its seizure, Russia has been using the Zaporizhzhia NPP only to blackmail Ukraine, all of Europe, and the world.”
Ukraine’s energy agency Energoatom said the fire broke out at the technical water supply facility causing the cooling tower to catch fire.
They said: “The likely cause is the negligence of the Racist occupiers, or the deliberate arson of the cooling tower.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) responded in a post on X this evening.
“IAEA experts witnessed strong dark smoke coming from ZNPP’s northern area following multiple explosions heard in the evening.
“Team was told by ZNPP of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located at the site.
“No impact has been reported for nuclear safety.”
The cooling tower is located about a kilometre away from the power units.
Inspectors inside have previously warned that the site is spiralling towards catastrophe.
It comes as Ukraine could be trying to capture the Kursk nuclear power plant during its surprise invasion of the region.
Ukraine’s troops have now spent six days inside the Russian homeland replacing flags, taking POWs, and capturing territory.
They’ve penetrated 30km deep, Russia’s defence ministry said, leaving Putin “scared and seething” over the ongoing attacks.
Russia is scrambling to build fortifications around the atomic facility which is 100km from the border with Ukraine.
Satellite images show the trenches to the south of Kurchatov, a town near where the power plant is located.
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