Military has fired upon Europe's largest nuclear power plant, with officials inside the plant now performing disaster drills.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and is located in southeastern Ukraine near the city of Enerhodar. Currently, Russia occupies the power plant, but the technicians inside are Ukrainian. Recent reports revealed the plant suffered a missile strike that local government officials claim to have been at least a "several dozen" projectiles, with some being guided missiles that came just "ten meters" from hitting barrels filled with spent nuclear fuel.
Both Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for missile strikes, with both countries claiming "nuclear terrorism". However, Kyiv and Moscow have both agreed that the nuclear power plant needs to be visited by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to assess its condition, which has led to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelendskyy and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday for a discussion regarding the Zaporizhzhia situation.
Read more: Military fire multiple rockets at Europe's largest nuclear power plant
Reports indicate that Guterres will move for an established demilitarized zone placed around the plant. The drills conducted by the Ukrainian power plant staff involved first responders dressed in full protective gear and carrying out radiation scans on individuals that are acting as patients. These drills will be repeated in the coming days, according to Ukrainian oficials.
"They need to give some technical estimation on what is happening because we just don't have concrete information on what is happening inside," Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said, referring to the potential IAEA visit.