Concerns about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant: what we know

While UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday, August 11 of a risk of "catastrophe" at the Zaporizhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine, new bombings were reported. in the afternoon. Like last week, Russian and Ukrainian forces accuse each other of having fired into the perimeter of Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

"Five new strikes were reported in the direct vicinity of a depot of radioactive substances," said the Ukrainian state company Energoatom, believing that Russian forces were necessarily behind the strikes. For its part, Russia, through the voice of an official stationed in southern Ukraine, accused "Volodymyr Zelensky's fighters" of having fired on the plant, also citing five strikes, one of which at least fell near a deposit of radioactive substances. Vladimir Rogov added that these bombardments had been carried out "by means of multiple rocket launchers of heavy artillery pieces from the right bank of the Dnieper" and that no injuries were to be deplored.

The situation around the plant became tense last week after strikes deliberately targeted the nuclear complex. The international community is concerned about possible damage to the buildings, which could lead to leaks of radioactive substances. A sign of the weakness of the UN, these strikes come at the very moment when its Security Council is discussing the situation, at the request of Russia. Antonio Guterres has been pleading for several weeks for "the plant to constitute a demilitarized parameter", but, in fact, this wish seems difficult to achieve.

The Russians took control of the plant on March 4 and little information is filtering out about the state of security there, the International Atomic Security Agency being unable to properly inspect the facilities. According to an official of the pro-Russian occupation administration, no radioactive leak was detected after the strikes on Thursday. But as long as the word is Russian, the doubt remains, especially since the Ukrainian operator said that radiation sensors had been damaged.