Ukrainian authorities estimate that the rocket was headed for kyiv but passed dangerously close to the Pivdennoukrainsk power plant
Reactors at the Pivdennoukrainsk plant (Wikimedia Commons)
Ukrainian authorities denounced this Sunday that a Russian missile passed dangerously close to the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant, in the south of the country, in an incident that they directly described as an “act of nuclear terrorism”.
The state nuclear energy operator, Energoatom, specified that the incident occurred around 05:30 this morning when a Russian cruise missile, “similar to the ‘Kalibr’ model”, flew over the plant at a “critical” proximity for a few moments before continuing on its way.< /b>
“Probably, the rocket was going in the direction of kyiv, where explosions have been heard this morning”, Energoatom estimated on its Telegram channel. Several missiles have impacted this Sunday in the Ukrainian capital after weeks of relative calm and at least one person has been injured.
The attacks rocked kyiv again after several weeks (Reuters)
kyiv is about 350 kilometers north of the plant.
The Ukrainian operator has denounced that “Russia continues to pose a threat to the nuclear safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and threatens the world with a new nuclear catastrophe”.
In the opinion of those responsible for Energoatom, the Russians “still do not seem to understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile can cause a catastrophe if it ends up hitting a functioning unit” of a nuclear power plant.
A similar incident in April drew strong condemnation from the UN nuclear agency, which launched an investigation.
“A missile of this type could have seriously damaged the physical integrity of the nuclear power plant, which could lead to a nuclear accident,” lamented the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, in a statement.< /b>
Attacks on kyiv
Russia affirmed this Sunday that it destroyed armored vehicles delivered to Ukraine by countries of the Eastern Europe by airstrikes in kyiv, the first in the capital for several weeks.
“High-precision, long-range missiles fired by the Russian aerospace forces over the kyiv suburb destroyed T-72 tanks delivered by Eastern European countries and other armor that were in hangars,” the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said. , Igor Konashenkov.
Previously, the mayor of kyiv Vitali Klitschko had reported bombings at dawn against the neighborhoods of Darnytsky and Dniprovsky, southeast of the Ukrainian capital.
Putin’s threat
The head of the Kremlin stated that the Russian Armed Forces will attack targets hitherto had been spared if the West supplies Ukraine with long-range missiles. “If they are supplied, we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our weapons, which we do not lack, to attack those targets that we have not hit so far,” he said.
Putin made the remarks after the White House announced a new $700 million military aid package to Ukraine, which includes multiple HIMARS missile launchers with a range of up to 70 kilometers.
Putin assured that the US decision will not fundamentally change the balance of power on the ground, since the weapons of the US and other countries are intended to replace the war material lost by Ukraine during the hostilities. “There is nothing new here. First of all, these multiple launch missile systems are already in the hands of the Ukrainian Army: they have similar Russian-made Soviet Grad, Smerch, Uragan”, capable of reaching between 45 and 70 kilometers, he said.
The Russian president considered that, in general, “all this fuss about the supply of additional weapons (to Ukraine) pursues a single objective: to prolong the armed conflict as much as possible.”
(With information from Europa Press, EFE and AFP)