Ukraine says Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant fire was “negligence of Russians or deliberate arson”

An evening fire broke out at the technical water supply facility at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, causing the fire of cooling tower number one and damage to other process equipment.

The IAEA experts witnessed heavy dark smoke coming from the northern zone of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after multiple explosions that occurred Sunday evening.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the IAEA and the international community to respond to the incident.

Since the first day of the seizure of Zaporizhzhia NPP, Russia has been using it solely to blackmail Ukraine, the whole of Europe, and the world.

"We are waiting for the world to react, waiting for the IAEA to react. Russia must be responsible for this. Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhzhya station can guarantee a return to normalcy and full security."

Ukrainian official Yevhen Yevtushenko says that the plant was operating normally and that Russian forces had probably set fire to large quantities of car tires in the cooling tower:

"According to unofficial information received from sources on the opposite bank, the Russians set fire to large quantities of car tires in the cooling tower. This may be a provocation or an attempt to create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir."

Ukraine's state energy company Energoatom states the probable cause is the negligence of the Russian invaders or deliberate arson of the cooling tower by the occupiers.

Russian forces use the nuclear power plant's premises and facilities as military warehouses to store equipment, weapons, explosives, and ammunition. Military vehicles are parked in the station's sheds. Cooling towers are also used as storage facilities for military equipment and ammunition, which significantly increases the risk of fires in production facilities.

The State Emergency Service reports that no radionuclides of man-made origin have been detected that indicate a violation of the safe operation of nuclear power plants in Ukraine or transboundary transfer.

The emergency service added that the posts of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center near the plant continue to monitor the radiation background and promptly monitor the state of the radiation background.

Russian forces turned ZNPP into a military facility by deploying soldiers and equipment there. The occupiers also mined the territory of the plant. Ukrainian personnel work at the plant, although the Russians sent their so-called "management" from Moscow. The IAEA monitoring mission is also at ZNPP.