Strike on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
"There are risks of hydrogen leakage and radioactive spraying. The fire danger is high."
Kyiv and Moscow yesterday accused each other of striking Europe's largest nuclear site, causing a reactor stoppage as three grain ships departed Ukraine under a deal to avert food shortages.
Russian troops have occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine since the early days of their invasion and Kyiv has accused them of storing heavy weapons there. Moscow, in turn, has accused Ukrainian forces of targeting the plant.
"Three strikes were recorded on the site of the plant, near one of the power blocks where the nuclear reactor is located," Ukraine's state-run nuclear power plant operator Energoatom said in a statement.
"There are risks of hydrogen leakage and radioactive spraying. The fire danger is high," Energoatom said. It did not report any casualties.
It said staff of Russian nuclear operator Rosatom had hastily left the plant before the attacks, which damaged a power cable and forced one of the reactors to stop working.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily video address said Russia should "take responsibility for the very fact of creating a threat to a nuclear plant".
"Today, the occupiers have created another extremely risky situation for all of Europe: they struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant twice. Any bombing of this site is a shameless crime, an act of terror," he said.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry earlier said the "possible consequences of hitting a working reactor are equivalent to using an atomic bomb".
The defence ministry in Moscow denied the reports.
"Ukrainian armed units carried out three artillery strikes on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the city of Energodar," it said.
Moscow meanwhile announced on Friday that it was imposing entry bans on 62 Canadian citizens including government officials.
The Russian foreign ministry said the list included figures known for "their malicious activity in the fight against the 'Russian world' and our traditional values".
In Ukraine, a controversy has flared over accusations that it is violating international law and endangering civilians in its fight against the Russian invasion.
Amnesty International released a report on Thursday listing incidents in 19 cities and towns where Ukrainian forces appeared to have put civilians in harm's way by establishing bases in residential areas.
President Zelensky equated the accusations to victim-blaming. In his evening address on Thursday, he said the rights group had sought to offer "amnesty (to) the terrorist state and shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim".
Amnesty said a four-month investigation had found that the Ukrainian military had established bases in schools and hospitals, and launched attacks from populated areas.
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