“The situation around the plant is becoming more and more dangerous. Only thanks to the actions by the plant’s employees and the Russian military forces that ensure the protection of the facility, avoiding a disaster was possible,” the diplomat said in statements published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The authorities in Energodar, where the nuclear power plant is located, denounced on Sunday that the Ukrainian military troops launched a new air strike on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

Specifically, they stated that the shelling was carried out with a 220-millimeter cluster projectile of the Uragan multiple rocket launcher, whose shrapnel elements hit the area where used nuclear fuel is stored.

For his part, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said after the events that the institution is “extremely concerned” about the strikes near the plant, while he warned that the risk of a possible nuclear catastrophe is “very real.”

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Ukraine’s actions against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant threaten “catastrophic consequences for a vast territory,” included Europe.

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