Ukraine on Thursday began exercises to respond to an emergency and eliminate the consequences of a nuclear disaster in the area of the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
This was announced by the head of the Zaporozhye Regional Military Administration Yuriy Malashko in Telegram .
“Command-staff exercises are starting with the authorities and civil protection forces of the Zaporozhye region. The training will take place on the territory of the city of Zaporozhye and the Zaporozhye region. The purpose of the event is to resolve the actions of all services in the event of a real threat of an emergency at the Zaporizhia NPP,” Malashko said.
He noted that “the situation is under control, so we ask citizens to refrain from excessive informational attention before training.”
Similar exercises began in the neighboring Kherson region, said the head of the Kherson regional military administration Alexander Prokudin.
According to Prokudin, various officials and civil defense forces have been working together on scenarios that could follow the ZNPP emergency, as well as how to inform and evacuate the population. Authorities tested warning systems.
In recent days, official Kyiv has been drawing the attention of the world community to the security situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is controlled by Russia.
“The situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The attention of the world to the existing Russian threat at the Zaporozhye station, unfortunately, is still insufficient. Just as insufficient was the response to the Russian bombing of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the deliberate attempts by Russian terrorists to get into the dam of another reservoir in Krivoy Rog,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on June 25.
This month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of planning a “terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhya NPP” with a release of radiation.
Zelensky called on the international community to put pressure on Russia so that it would end its occupation of the ZNPP and give guarantees of nuclear safety.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by Russia since the beginning of March 2022.
According to RBC-Ukraine, on June 25, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, warned in an interview with New Statesman that Russia had completed preparations for an attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. According to him, the plant’s cooling pool was mined by Russian troops.
The United States is closely monitoring the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant
On Monday, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby at a press briefing at the White House said, commenting on Ukraine’s reports about Russia’s plans to blow up the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, that the United States is “very closely following this.” According to him, at the moment the United States “does not see any signs that this threat is imminent.”
Source : VOA News
