Artillery hits Zaporozhye nuclear dump

Four Ukrainian artillery rounds struck the spent fuel storage area, Energodar officials say

Four artillery projectiles fired from the Ukrainian side struck the fuel storage site of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Friday, authorities in the Russian-controlled city of Energodar told reporters. Radiation levels remain normal, suggesting that they inflicted no damage.

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was seized by Russian troops in early March, soon after Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine. Since then, Russian National Guard and specialist troops have been guarding the site, while the Ukrainian staff continued operations. 

Russian and local officials have accused Ukrainian forces of repeatedly attacking the Zaporozhye NPP with drones, artillery and even US-supplied weapons. Kiev has rejected the accusations and claimed Russia was using the facility as a military base and shelling its own troops to make Ukraine look bad.

On Thursday, shelling started a wildfire south of Energodar and forced a shutdown of the power plant to prevent a meltdown. 

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