KYV, Ukraine ( Associated Press) — Russian military has fired missiles and artillery into Ukraine’s controlled areas on the other side of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, officials said on Saturday, amid continuing concerns about security at the Ukraine-controlled plant. . temporary inactivity.
Grad missiles and artillery shells hit the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, which are about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Zaporizhia plant, across the Dnieper River, said the region’s governor, Valentin Reznichenko. Ukrainian from Dnipropetrovsk.
At the start of the war Moscow forces occupied the nuclear power plant complex, but the plant is still operated by Ukrainian workers. Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the region, raising fears that the fighting could lead to devastation.
On Friday, officials started distributing iodine tablets to residents living near the plant in case of a radiation leak. According to officials, the move comes a day after the plant was temporarily out of service due to damage caused by a fire in the transmission line.
Recent satellite images taken by Planet Labs showed fires in the vicinity of the complex in recent days.
The United Nations Atomic Energy Agency has attempted to send a team to the area to inspect the plant and help secure it. According to officials, preparations for the visit were underway, but it was not clear when it might happen.
Ukraine claimed that Russia used the plant as a shield by storing weapons there and launching attacks from its surroundings. Moscow, for its part, accuses Kyiv of recklessly firing at the nuclear complex.
Elsewhere, one person was killed and another wounded by Russian gunfire in the Mykolaiv area, according to local government officials. The city is a major Black Sea port and shipbuilding centre.
The governor of the eastern Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, said on Saturday that two people were killed in a Russian attack against the city of Bakhmut, a major target for Russian and separatist forces seeking to seize parts of the region that have They still don’t have control.
