Russia Bombed A Nuclear Power Plant In Ukraine

Energoatom, Ukraine's state nuclear energy company, said that Russian forces had bombed the Pevdnoukrainsk nuclear power plant in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine early on Monday morning. Still, its reactors were not damaged and are operating normally.

The company added, in a statement, that an explosion occurred 300 meters from the reactors and damaged the plant's buildings shortly after midnight. The attack also damaged a nearby hydroelectric power station and power transmission lines.

"Currently, all three power units at the Pevdenoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant are operating normally. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the plant's employees," said Energoatom.

It published two pictures showing a crater that it said was caused by the explosion.

Commenting on the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app: "The invaders wanted to shoot again, but they forgot what a nuclear power plant was. Russia is endangering the whole world. We have to stop this before it's too late."

There has been no Russian response yet to Ukraine's accusations.

The Mykolaiv region has been subjected to continuous missile attacks by Russian forces in recent weeks.

Another Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, which is the largest in Europe and is located about 250 km east of the Mykolaiv site, was shut down earlier this month due to a Russian bombing, raising fears of a nuclear catastrophe.

Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of bombing the Zaporizhia station, which is controlled by Russian forces and run by Ukrainian employees. The bombing damaged buildings and disrupted power lines.

The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said at the beginning of this week that one of the four main power lines at the Zaporizhia plant had been repaired and had once again begun to feed the plant with electricity from the Ukrainian grid.