Fear as nuclear plant set ‘alight by Russian forces'

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirms no radiation leak detected as local Ukrainian official blames Moscow for fire

- HOWARD MUSTOE

Russian forces lit a fire at the site of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Radiation levels were normal, the president said, although the blaze is visible from Ukrainian-held territory.

A local official in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol said that Russian forces were rumoured to have set fire to a large number of tyres in the cooling towers, Reuters reported. Russia claimed the fire was started by nearby shelling.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, which has a team at the vast six-reactor plant, said its experts had seen strong, dark smoke coming from the northern area of the plant following multiple explosions.

The IAEA said there had been no reported impact on nuclear safety at the site. “Team was told by [the nuclear plant] of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located at the site,” it wrote on X.

Mr Zelensky published video showing belching black smoke that appeared to be coming out a cooling tower with a blaze burning at its foot.