Some villages and communities near the station came under heavy shelling 24 hours into this morning by “tanks, mortars, artillery and jets,” according to Kyiv.
Fierce battles raged today in areas near its Russian-held nuclear plant Zaporizhia in Ukraine after Kyiv warned it may be forced to close the station to avoid a disaster.
The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces says in its daily morning briefing that a number of villages and communities near the station have been heavily shelled 24 hours into this morning by “tanks, howitzers, artillery and jets”.
During the night, the Russian forces they launched rockets and opened fire with heavy artillery in nearby Nikopoli four times, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said in a post on the Telegram app, adding that at least 11 homes and other buildings were damaged.
Yesterday, Wednesday, Ukraine announced that it may be forced to shut down the nuclear power plant and called on residents living in areas near it to evacuate for their own safety.
Russia and Ukraine blame each other for bombings near and within the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant that threaten to cause a nuclear disaster. Russian forces took control of the station shortly after their February 24 invasion of Ukraine, but the station is still operated by Ukrainian technicians.
Mykola Lukasuk, the head of the Dnipro regional council, also said in a Telegram post that the Russians were shelling Nikopoli from the direction of Enerhodar, the main city serving the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
“The occupation forces are deliberately bombing civilian targets in order to terrorize the population,” Lukasuk noted.
Russia denies it is deliberately targeting civilians in what it describes as a “special military operation” it is conducting to disarm and “de-Nazify” Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies say the invasion by Russian forces constitutes an unprovoked war of aggression.
Today, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing Alexander Volga, Moscow-appointed head of the Enerhodar command, that Ukrainian forces did not fire artillery at the station.
“No artillery hits were observed at (the station), but drones are flying periodically,” Volga said, according to TASS.
“Missiles have been fired from UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) on the station’s own grounds over the past two days,” he added.
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
