VIDEO. War in Ukraine: “Thick black smoke”, “explosions”… fire breaks out at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

On Sunday, August 11, 2024, a fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine and Russia are accusing each other of causing the disaster.

kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of starting a fire on Sunday at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, located in Ukraine but occupied by Russia, but have reported no signs of high radiation levels.

Multiple explosions

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts saw a thick cloud of black smoke billowing over the northern part of the plant following several explosions.

According to the Russian state nuclear concern Rosatom, quoted by the official news agencies TASS and RIA, the main fire was extinguished shortly after midnight on the night of Sunday into Monday.

The incident came less than a week after the Ukrainian military launched its largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war, as Russian troops made gains on the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian state nuclear agency Energoatom said in a statement via Telegram that one of the cooling towers at the Zaporizhzhia plant and other equipment had been damaged.

TASS news agency, citing representatives of Russian rescue services, also reported that one tower had been damaged but that it was not operating at the time of the incident. prior.

Russia took control of the Zaporizhzhia plant shortly after the launch in February 2022 of what Moscow has described as a “special military operation” in Ukraine but which Kiev and its allies denounce as an invasion. All six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant are in a cold shutdown state.

It is still not immediately clear what caused the fire on Sunday around 8:00 p.m. (17:00 GMT). kyiv and Moscow have been accusing each other for months of carrying out strikes near the plant.