"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time."Only in politics could 2022 players be surprised by the "innovation" of a mail-in ballot-led strategy exactly the same as was used in 2020.
--Chesty Puller, United States Marines
U.N. warns: 'You're playing with fire!'Ukraine is already suffering blackouts, Russia doesn't need to risk the safety of itself and Europe by shelling the plant to achieve that. Kiev, on the other hand, is extremely desperate.
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"The news from our team yesterday and this morning is extremely disturbing," said IAEA head Rafael Grossi. "Explosions occurred at the site of this major nuclear power plant, which is completely unacceptable. Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately. As I have said many times before, you're playing with fire!"
Citing information provided by plant management, the IAEA team on the ground said there had been damage to some buildings, systems and equipment at the site, but none of them critical for nuclear safety and security so far.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant provided about a fifth of Ukraine's electricity before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, and has been forced to operate on back-up generators a number of times. It has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235.
The reactors are shut down but there is a risk that nuclear fuel could overheat if the power that drives the cooling systems was cut.
And, as we read in the article from TASS, the splash pool was targeted (or at the very least it was nearly hit).
Shelling has repeatedly cut power lines.
SIDES SWAP BLAME
Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine fired shells at power lines supplying the plant, while TASS reported some of the site's storage facilities had been hit by Ukrainian shelling, quoting an official from Russian nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom.
"They shelled not only yesterday, but also today, they are shelling right now," said Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom's CEO, adding that any artillery attack at the site posed a threat to nuclear safety.
Karchaa said the shells had been fired near a dry nuclear waste storage facility and a building that houses fresh spent nuclear fuel, but that no radioactive emissions had currently been detected, according to TASS.
It said that Russia had targeted the infrastructure necessary to restart parts of the plant in an attempt to further limit Ukraine's power supply.
"It is impossible to assess the consequences of the shelling because there is a danger of new attacks,"RT reports that Russia destroyed an aircraft engine facility, and munitions depot:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose team is monitoring the situation on the ground, said that "more than a dozen blasts were heard within a short period of time" on Sunday. It added that experts could see some of the explosions from their windows.
The Russian military has targeted the Motor Sich plant in the city of Zaporozhye, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"A high-precision strike by the Russian Aerospace Forces in the city of Zaporozhye has destroyed a line assembling engines for aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force," the Russian military said.
While the statement did not elaborate on when exactly the strike took place, the attack on the facility apparently occurred early Saturday. According to Vladimir Rogov, a senior Zaporozhye Region official, the strikes targeted an ammunition depot in the city, as well as a manufacturing line that produces aircraft engines, including those used in Turkish Bayraktar attack drones.
The official also shared unverified footage on his Telegram channel taken amid the strikes, with the videos purporting to show multiple blasts and a massive fire at the site.
Zaporozhye Region, as well as three other former Ukrainian territories, officially became part of Russia in early October following referendums that saw the majority of residents vote in favor of accession. Kiev and its Western backers have rejected the referendums, dismissing them as "sham" elections and the city of Zaporozhye itself, remains under Ukrainian control.
The Motor Sich plant was recently taken over by Kiev under wartime authority. The move prompted an international scandal, with Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment, a Chinese company engaged in a legal battle over plant's majority stake, accusing Ukraine of "shameless" actions and "plunder" of assets belonging to foreign investors.
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