According to the diplomat, Ukrainian forces attempted to strike the plant’s spent nuclear fuel storage facility, as well as the building housing the nuclear waste container transporter.

“We strongly condemn this attack, which represents a new expression of the cynical and dangerous policy of Bankova [the seat of the Ukrainian administration] aimed at undermining the nuclear safety of this Russian plant,” Zakharova said, as quoted in the Foreign Ministry statement.

Such attacks by Ukraine would be impossible “without the constant political support provided by the West,” she emphasized.

The spokeswoman explained that the targeted facilities are “critical to the operation of the nuclear power plant.”

Zelensky’s regime is edging ever closer to a dangerous line, risking a nuclear catastrophe with consequences that would be felt across Europe, she warned.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant—Europe’s largest—is located near the city of Enerhodar; it features six VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors and has a total electrical capacity of 6,000 megawatts.

In October 2022, following the incorporation of the Zaporizhzhia region into Russia, the plant came under Russian ownership. All six of the plant’s reactors are currently shut down to minimize the risk of exposure to the ongoing armed conflict.

Over the past four years, continuous Ukrainian attacks on Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia have, on more than one occasion, caused interruptions to the plant’s external power supply, forcing the use of electric generators to ensure a power supply and keep critical parameters under control around the clock.

jdt/nmr/gfa