Nuclear catastrophe grows closer..
Threat to Ukraine nuclear plant increases
The main front in Russia’s military onslaught on Ukraine appears to have shifted dangerously to the south, risking a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Over the weekend, Russia used territory around the nuclear power station, which it seized from Ukraine in March, as a staging ground for attacks on Ukrainian positions. It unleashed a barrage of howitzer fire on the nearby Ukrainian-held town of Nikopol, local officials said. The intensifying battles near the plant, which is about 60 miles from the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, have sent residents fleeing and raised alarm about potential dangers from radiation far beyond Ukraine.
Russian troops in Kherson have been largely cut off from their main source of supplies since Ukraine wrecked the last of four bridges across the Dnipro River. Some reports said Russian commanders had already left the city, but sources in the Ukrainian military said they had seen no evidence of a retreat.
Risks: Engineers at the nuclear power plant say that yard-thick reinforced concrete containment structures protect the reactors, even from direct hits. International concern, however, has grown that shelling could cause a fire or other damage that could lead to a nuclear accident
New York Times
The main front in Russia’s military onslaught on Ukraine appears to have shifted dangerously to the south, risking a catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Over the weekend, Russia used territory around the nuclear power station, which it seized from Ukraine in March, as a staging ground for attacks on Ukrainian positions. It unleashed a barrage of howitzer fire on the nearby Ukrainian-held town of Nikopol, local officials said. The intensifying battles near the plant, which is about 60 miles from the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, have sent residents fleeing and raised alarm about potential dangers from radiation far beyond Ukraine.
Russian troops in Kherson have been largely cut off from their main source of supplies since Ukraine wrecked the last of four bridges across the Dnipro River. Some reports said Russian commanders had already left the city, but sources in the Ukrainian military said they had seen no evidence of a retreat.
Risks: Engineers at the nuclear power plant say that yard-thick reinforced concrete containment structures protect the reactors, even from direct hits. International concern, however, has grown that shelling could cause a fire or other damage that could lead to a nuclear accident
New York Times
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