Tensions continue over the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in Ukraine

Russian forces controlling the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant accused the Ukrainian leadership of planning serious attacks, coinciding with a visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The region's official, Yevgeny Palitsky, told Russian television today, Thursday, that the Ukrainian attacks threaten to damage the cooling system in reactors and nuclear waste storage units.

"It is the cooling system that ensures the reliable operation of the nuclear plant," he added, warning of a disaster similar to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Ukrainian and Russian forces accuse each other of targeting the station.

And the Russian Defense Ministry had previously said that Ukraine was planning to bomb the station to hold Moscow responsible for the nuclear disaster that would follow, and for its part, Ukraine accused Russia of using the station as a shield for its forces, so that they would attack Ukrainian cities.

Guterres is scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later on Thursday in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news