Zelenskyy warns Europe is 'one step away from nuclear disaster'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the world was ‘one step away’ from nuclear disaster when electricity to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was cut for hours because of Russian shelling this week. 

Zelenskyy pointed to fires sparked by Russia on Thursday (25 August) that caused the plant to be cut off from the power grid.

Back-up generators kicked in, which means the plant’s safety systems could be cooled, avoiding a disastrous meltdown.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said the world was ‘one step away’ from nuclear disaster. 

Praising Ukrainian technicians, Zelenskyy also warned that a radiation disaster could have occurred. 

He said: “If our station staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident.

“Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.”

The United Nations is currently seeking access to the plant and has called for the area to be demilitarised.

Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of shelling the site, with Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in occupied Enerhodar – a town near the plant – saying the outage was caused by a forest fire sparked by Ukrainian forces. 

“This was caused by the disconnection of power lines from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station as a result of provocations by Zelensky’s fighters,” said Rogov on Telegram. 

“The disconnection itself was triggered by a fire and short circuit on the power lines.”

Speaking to Reuters, Paul Bracken, a national security expert and professor, issued a stark warning about plant damage.

Bracken confirmed that if the reactor’s walls were punctured by shelling, radiation would likely spread around a large area and wouldn’t be dissimilar to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Bracken said: “[A failure at the plant] could kill hundreds or thousands of people, and damage environmentally a far larger area reaching into Europe.”

He added: “Russian Roulette is a good metaphor because the Russians are spinning the chamber of the revolver, threatening to blow out the brains of the reactor all over Europe.”

Earlier this month, Zelenskyy warned: “Any radiation incident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP can affect the countries of the European Union, Turkey, Georgia and countries from more distant regions. Everything depends solely on the direction and speed of the wind.”

He added: "All Russian troops must be immediately withdrawn from the plant and neighbouring areas without any conditions.”