President Zelensky warns Zaporizhzhia power plant remains under serious threat

The Ukrainian president said Russia is ‘technically ready’ to attack the power station (Picture: Reuters/Getty)

Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated his warning that the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant remains under ‘serious threat’.

The Ukrainian president said Russia is ‘technically ready’ to attack the power station.

Speaking on Saturday, he said: ‘There is a serious threat because Russia is technically ready to provoke a local explosion at the station, which could lead to a (radiation) release.’

He gave no further details but cited his intelligence officers as the source of the information.

Zelensky called on world leaders to pay more attention to the situation around Zaporizhzhia, which is Europe’s largest nuclear plant.

He also urged sanctions on Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom.

The plant, located near the city of Enerhodar in southern Ukraine, has been occupied by Russia since early March last year, shortly after Moscow’s invasion.

Russia has previously denied Kyiv’s accusations that Russia was preparing an explosion at the plant. Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of shelling the vast facility.

The plant, located near the city of Enerhodar in southern Ukraine, has been occupied by Russia since early March last year (Picture: AP)

Rescues and police officers attend anti-radiation drills (Picture: Reuters)

Ukrainian emergency workers wearing radiation protection suits disinfect a man from radiation during training in Zaporizhzhia (Picture: AP)

Last week, authorities conducted renewed nuclear disaster response drills in the area.

Yuriy Malashko, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said they were intended to coordinate the response of all services to an ‘emergency situation’ at the plant.

Footage showed rescuers in yellow and white protective gear and gas masks, using dosimeters to check passenger cars and trucks for radiation levels and then cleaning wheels before vehicles underwent additional decontamination at specialised washing points.

A man on a stretcher was brought into a medical tent as sirens blared.

Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, suffered the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986, when clouds of radioactive material spread across much of Europe after an explosion and fire at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

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