Strategic and tension point in the Ukrainian War, the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, was shut down for safety reasons. The structure has caused fears due to its potential for radioactive catastrophe as a result of the conflict, which completed 200 days this Sunday (11).
Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom said it was preparing to cool down the reactor at the plant, which had stopped generating electricity. The complex was responsible for about 25% of the country’s energy before the conflict.
Interestingly, the shutdown was only possible after electricity was restored in the region where the plant is located. Power had been cut off due to fighting, and Zaporijia was being powered by only one of six reactors that remained operational and supplied power to security systems.
According to Energoatom, the shutdown was necessary for the reactor to remain in its “safest state”. “In the event of further damage to the transmission lines that connect the plant to the electrical system — whose risk remains high — internal needs [da usina] will have to be covered by generators that run on diesel,” the state-owned company said in a statement.
The act increases the energy pressure on the invaded country, which is preparing for a winter of scarcity as the war continues.
The Zaporijia plant was taken over by Russian forces at the beginning of the conflict. In recent days, both sides have been accusing each other of fighting dangerously around the complex, which increases the risk of radioactive accidents. There are concerns that a reactor or atomic waste dumps around the structure could be hit.
The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) mission to assess the situation at the plant said earlier this month that fighting in the region had violated “the physical integrity” of the site. Since then, Energoatom has reiterated calls for the creation of a demilitarized zone around the facility.
The shutdown of the plant coincides with the intensification of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the conflict against Russia. Kiev said on Sunday it had taken back more than 3,000 square kilometers in the country’s northeast this month. “Around Kharkiv [segunda maior cidade da Ucrânia] we began to advance not only to the south and east, but also to the north,” General Valeri Zaluzhni said in a statement.
The number is approximately 30% higher than the area mentioned a day earlier by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This Saturday (10), the country’s forces demanded the retaking of territories in Izium and Kupiansk, a railway outpost that had been under Russian control for months and through which supplies sent from Moscow passed for the main focus of their action, the fighting in Donbass.
The speed of the counteroffensive apparently took Russian forces by surprise. The Russian army has announced a redeployment of its forces from Kharkiv to focus its efforts on the Donetsk region further south.
Faced with the counter-offensive, thousands of people fled the Kharkiv region for Russia within 24 hours, said Viacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine on Sunday. “It was not the most peaceful night or morning. In the last 24 hours, thousands of people have crossed the border,” he said in a video shared on Telegram.
Most people who crossed the border into the Belgorod region went to the homes of relatives or close friends, according to Gladkov, who said the situation was “under control” on Sunday.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian army for the first time announced a counteroffensive in the south, before making a surprise advance this week against Russian lines in the northeast of the country.
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