Published: Less than 10 min ago
Ukraine’s military is reporting intense fighting against Russian forces on Saturday, as the last reactor at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was also shut down for safety reasons.
The night before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a press conference in the capital Kiev, confirmed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has begun, Russia hammered away with robots and drones.
The attack has resulted in deaths and injuries at a military airbase, according to Ukraine’s General Staff, which speaks of “heavy blows” in the eastern part of the country.
Without going into details, the General Staff stated that Russian forces defended themselves with air and artillery attacks in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya.
No immediate risk
According to Ukraine’s nuclear power authority Energoatom, the last operating reactor in Zaporizhzhya, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has been put into “cold shutdown” for safety reasons. Five of the six reactors are already shut down in the same way, with the aim of avoiding the development of heat and pressure.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a team of experts on the ground, has said there is no immediate safety risk at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which has been cooled with water from the collapsed Kakhovka dam. This week, the IAEA stated that the nuclear power plant has access to water that will last several months.
Top politicians in Kyiv
Energoatom stated late on Friday that there is no direct threat to the nuclear power plant due to the ruptured dam.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in the capital Kyiv on Saturday in an unannounced visit. It is his second trip to Ukraine since the Russian invasion war began in February last year. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is also participating in the visit.