Russian troops took control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine early Friday morning after a firefight with Ukrainian troops caused a training building on the grounds to catch fire, prompting international alarm over the possibility that nuclear reactors might be damaged and release radioactive material.
Ukrainian emergency services extinguished the blaze at the Zaporizhzhia plant in the Oblask but it is now believed to be controlled by the Russians. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear organization, said Russia’s assault on Zaporizhzhya did not disrupt the six nuclear reactors or emit radioactive material, although the situation there is still “very fragile” and should put the world on notice.
The chairman of the Ukrainian parliament said Friday that Russia’s attack on the nuclear plant “clearly demonstrates the need to introduce a no-fly zone as soon as possible in order to protect not only Ukraine, but Europe as a whole.”
But NATO has rejected the possibility of a no-fly zone, the alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said at a news conference on Friday.
“Allies agree we should not have NATO planes operating in Ukrainian air space or NATO troops on Ukraine’s territory,” he said.
Staff at the nuclear plant sent a message to the Ukrainian press and government officials saying that Russians were attempting to hijack the plant with explosives to escalate the conflict and threaten neighboring countries with the specter of nuclear war.
“They will be trying to mine the nuclear power plant and blackmail the whole of Europe,” employees said early Friday morning as Russian troops shelled the facility, according to a translation obtained by Fox News.
The message noted that Chechen soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia, called “Kadyrovtsy,” seized the plant.
Russia seized the Chernobyl power plant last week after a firefight with Ukrainian troops, causing radiation levels to increase around the site of the famous nuclear disaster.
On Thursday, Russia and Ukraine agreed to establish humanitarian corridors around the areas most heavily effected by the fighting, so that aid can be delivered and civilians can evacuate. As the crisis in Ukraine escalates, with Russia resorting to the bombardment of cities and industrial and civilian locations within, a humanitarian crisis has been triggered, sending hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians scrambling to leave the war zone.
The delegations have met for two rounds of negotiations since Russia invaded. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said the countries reached an agreement in Belarus on the humanitarian problem, saying the “main issue that we settled today is the salvation of people, civilians who have found themselves in a zone of military clashes.” The peace talks are occurring as Russia continues its invasion, bombing and encircling cities with ground forces. Despite its air campaigns, however, Russia has only seized the port city of Kherson from the Ukrainians after nine days of battle.
The two sides have agreed to establish “communication and cooperation lines” promptly to coordinate the evacuation of civilians, Ukraine’s negotiator, Mykhailo Podolyak, told Aljazeera. Both Ukrainian and Russian representatives acknowledged that basic necessities and medical supplies should be delivered to the particularly battered areas of the country, and will discuss what more can be done at the upcoming third meeting.
Russia’s pivot into attacking nuclear plants has some world leaders on high alert, prompting them to consider unleashing even steeper penalties than the sanctions packages that have already strangled the Russian economy and currency.
The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell told CNBC that “everything remains on the table” as the bloc weighs whether to hit Russia’s energy sector with sanctions after the Russians attacked the nuclear plant, a decision that will not be without serious economic collateral damage. Many countries in the world rely on Russia’s oil and natural gas.