kyiv tries to reassure its population. The Ukrainian Ministry of Health has called on its compatriots not to panic, warning against taking iodine tablets, after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement accused Moscow of planning an “attack” on an occupied nuclear power plant.
The Head of State’s comments on Thursday about the risk of an attack at the Zaporizhia power plant (south), the largest in Europe and which has been occupied by Russian troops since March 2022, have sparked a new wave of concern in a country marked by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. “Our intelligence has obtained information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhia power plant, an attack with the release of radiation. They have prepared everything for that,” said Volodymyr Zelensky. The Kremlin immediately dismissed this accusation, calling it a “lie”.
Shortly after the Ukrainian president’s statement, the Ministry of Health published on Telegram recommendations to be followed in the event of a nuclear incident, while recalling that iodine tablets were only necessary in the event of a proven incident. “Read and share but don’t panic! Don’t play the enemy’s game,” the ministry urged. “President Zelensky said nothing new. Russia is a terrorist country from which, like a monkey with a grenade, you can expect anything.”
In a separate statement on Friday, the Ukrainian ministry warned of adverse effects from iodine tablets. “Uncontrolled intake of potassium iodide is dangerous!” and its overdose risks leading to “serious consequences”, “even death”, he insisted. If people lined up the day before in front of some pharmacies in kyiv to buy iodine tablets, the queues disappeared on Friday. “Yesterday there was demand […]today there are less,” notes Sofia Seledska, 25, a pharmacist in the center of the capital.
“There is no panic, but everyone is playing it safe”
“We have them (iodine tablets) in stock, there is no shortage. We explain to people how to take them, because some do not understand that it is a single dose”, after the rejection of radioactive elements, explains the young woman to AFP.
Iodine tablets are intended to prevent thyroid cancer in the event of radioactive emissions caused by a serious nuclear accident. The drug does not protect against radioactive elements such as cesium 134 or 137. In another pharmacy in the capital, the demand for tablets “has increased by 100 to 150%” since the president’s speech, according to Maria Douler, an employee of 21 years old.
“There is no panic, but everyone is playing it safe,” she adds. For Kirill Zalunine, a 37-year-old resident of Kyiv, “if you react to all the (official) statements, you can go crazy. There is a fact, there is a caveat, we take it for granted” , he told AFP. He “saw” the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, but did “not run to (acquire) iodine”, assures the 30-year-old. “We are not afraid. We are tired of being afraid. We hope for the best,” said Oksana Zavgorodnia, 52, as she and her husband left a pharmacy where they bought medicine but no medicine. iodine tablets.