Russia is ‘technically ready,’ according to the president of Ukraine, to attack the power plant.
He declared on Saturday that there was a “serious threat” since Russia was technically prepared to produce a nearby explosion at the station, which might result in a radioactive spill.
He made no more statements but credited his intelligence operatives as the information’s source.
Zelensky urged world leaders to pay closer attention to the circumstances around Zaporizhzhia, the biggest nuclear reactor in Europe.
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.
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.