Updated March 4th, 2022 at 09:58 IST
UK PM Boris Johnson speaks to Zelenskyy on Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia; calls UNSC meet
British PM Boris Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Russia's attack on Zaporizhzhia plant attack; says will call UNSC meet on issue
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As Russian troops attack Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, British PM Boris Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, stating that he will call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council within the next few hours. Issuing a statement, the PM's office stated that UK will raise the issue immediately with Russia and its close partners. Both leaders agreed that a ceasefire was crucial now.
UK PM to call UNSC over Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant firing
Prime Minister @BorisJohnson spoke to Ukrainian President @ZelenskyyUa in the early hours of this morning about the gravely concerning situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. pic.twitter.com/CGeWhda17a
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) March 4, 2022
Attack on Zaporizhzhia
In the early hours, Russian troops fired at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Europe's largest nuclear power plant, triggering the possibility of a nuclear explosion. The power plant situated near the southern city of Enerhodar supplies 25% of Ukraine’s power generation. Taking to Twitter, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned that firing at Zaporizhzhia may lead to a catastrophe ten times larger than 1986 Chernobyl accident.
The mayor of Enerhodar revealed that the Russian forces are on the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi spoke to Ukrainian PM Denys Shmygal and with the Ukrainian nuclear regulator and warned of severe danger if reactors are hit by Russian shelling. However, the Ukraine regulator told the IAEA that no change had been reported in the radiation levels at the nuclear power plant.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy pleaded with Europe saying, "Russian army has opened fire on Zaporizhzhia NPP. No state except Russia has ever opened fire at nuclear power units. For the first time in human history, a terrorist state has resorted to nuclear terror. Only immediate European action can stop Russian troops”. Russia has already taken over the now defunct Chernobyl power plant.
Russia invades Ukraine
For weeks, Moscow massed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine's borders in a bid to pressurise Western nations to not allow Ukraine to join NATO, threatening an invasion. Last week, Putin ordered a special military operation in Ukraine's Donbas region, which quickly accelerated into precision airstrikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, deployed tanks towards Lviv from the Belarus-Ukraine border. A military faceoff is underway between Russian and Ukrainian Armies in Sumy, Poltava, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kherson including heavy air attacks, missiles from sea, air and land. Over 1 million Ukrainians have fled and many are housed in bomb shelters. Foreign nationals including Indians are being evacuated via Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Romania by Centre. As of date, Ukraine has lost 352 civilians including 14 children in the war against Russia.
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Published March 4th, 2022 at 08:52 IST
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