Fire at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Extinguished; No Deaths, Radiation at Normal Levels

Fire at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which broke out after Moscow's shelling early on Friday, has now been extinguished and Europe's largest nuclear plant is currently under Russia's control.

Ukrainian authorities have said that Vladimir Putin's troops have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and operations personnel are monitoring the condition of power units.

Fire at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Fire at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Reuters

No Deaths

There were no deaths due to the fire and currently radiation level is normal. The fire was doused at 6.20 a.m. (local time), according to Ukraine's Emergency Services.

The fire at the plant broke out early on Friday around 2:30 am following Russia's shelling. The fire did not cause any damage to reactors but a training facility was affected by this.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located in Enerhodar in southeastern Ukraine and it is the largest of its kind in Ukraine.

The plant contains six of the country's 15 nuclear energy reactors.

Fighting Stopped

Currently, the fighting has stopped in the plant area. But Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the EU to stop Russia saying the EU leaders need to stop this now before it becomes a nuclear disaster.

Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The fire did not make any critical damage to the plant and it has not affected any essential equipment. But staff are still monitoring the parts of the facility.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Minister of Energy German Galushchenko and US counterpart Jennifer Granholm had a telephonic conversation over the power plant fire, reported CNN.

Galushchenko said that Russia is not concerned about nuclear and radiation security, stressing that Moscow was "indifferent to the human lives of Ukrainians, Europeans and their own citizens."

The Minister also emphasized that Ukraine has been trying to convey this message to International Atomic Energy Agency for some days.

Galushchenko demanded the IAEA to intervene in it to make the tough decision against Russia.

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