Ukraine says Russia unable to manage Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant safety
Ukraine accused Moscow on Wednesday of being incapable of managing safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after what it said were reports of a huge spillage of diesel, reports dismissed by Russia as "fake".
Russian forces have occupied the plant since the early days of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of staging attacks and risking a nuclear incident.
"We have received reports of diesel reservoir damage at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said on X.
"Russians not only stole the plant but they are unable to manage its basic safety," he said.
The Russian-installed management of the plant said the Ukrainian reports were "fake".
"The information disseminated by the Ukrainian foreign ministry about the damage to the fuel tanks is false. The station is in a safe condition," the plant's Russia-appointed director Yuri Chernichuk said on Telegram.
Tykhyi did not give the origin of the reports or say when or how the damage had come about, saying only that it was "a direct result of Russia's reckless replacement" of licensed Ukrainian experts with Russian staff.
"The spilled fuel was enough to power the station's emergency generators for 25 days," he added.
Ukraine says Russia's management of the station, which is currently not producing electricity, has led to severe degradation of equipment and that the station could only renew operations if it were brought back under Ukraine's control.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the plant should be treated as a Russian facility and said Ukrainian control of it was "impossible".
President Donald Trump suggested the United States could help run and possibly own Ukraine's nuclear power plants. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the ownership has not been discussed and ruled out such a possibility.
"(The plant) must be returned to Ukrainian control; this is the only way to prevent further incidents," Tykhyi said.
This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.
