Russia accuses Ukraine of "nuclear terrorism"

Russia on Friday denied responsibility for the strikes near a nuclear reactor in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, accusing the regime of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of "nuclear terrorism".

The Russian military said in a statement that "Ukrainian armed formations carried out three artillery strikes on the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the city of Energodar," calling on "international organizations to condemn the criminal acts of the Zelensky regime, which practices nuclear terrorism."

On Friday, Ukraine accused the Russians of carrying out strikes near a nuclear reactor at the station, which was seized by Russian forces in early March, a few days after the start of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The Ukrainian state company Energoatom, which operates nuclear power plants in the country, confirmed that one of the electrical interconnection lines was damaged in the attack, which led to the suspension of one of the plant's reactors, which is the largest in Europe.

For its part, the Russian military confirmed that "Ukrainian shells" damaged a hydrogen tube at the station, which led to a hydrogen fire that was quickly brought under control.

"Fortunately, the Ukrainian missiles did not target a nearby oxygen plant, which prevented a larger fire and a radiological accident," the Russian statement added.

The statement added that the Ukrainian strikes also caused power outages and disruption of the water supply in Energodar.

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