Ukraine and Russia again accused each other of bombing the Zaporozhye nuclear plant on Saturday, while the plant's operator warned of the dangers of proliferation of radioactive materials.

The Ukrainian state operator, Energoatom, said today that Russian forces had bombed the facility several times the previous day.

Since last March, Russian forces have controlled the Zaporozhye plant (southern Ukraine), which is described as the largest nuclear facility in Europe.

And "Energo Atom" - in a statement via Telegram - said that "the station's infrastructure was damaged by the successive bombing. There is a risk of hydrogen leakage and the spread of radioactive materials, as well as a high risk of fire."

She pointed out that the station, since Saturday noon local time (9 am GMT), has been operating "at the risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards."

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement rejecting these allegations, and saying that the Ukrainian forces were responsible for the barrage of 17 shells targeting the site.

The ministry added that the Ukrainian forces "bombed the site of the station 3 times" from the vicinity of the town of Merhanit facing the station on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River.

The Russian statement accused Kyiv of practicing "nuclear terrorism", and said that the missiles landed near sites where nuclear fuel and radioactive waste were stored, but stressed that radiation levels at the station "remain normal."

Last Tuesday, residents of the Khortetsky district (45 km northeast of the Zaporozhye station) received iodine pills for use in the event of any radioactive leak.

On the other hand, the British Ministry of Defense said that satellite images showed an increased presence of Russian forces at the station with armored personnel carriers at a distance of 60 meters from one of the reactors.


Electricity conversion

Kyiv suspects that Moscow intends to transfer electricity from the Zaporozhye plant to Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed in 2014.

US State Department spokesman Vidant Patel said in a press statement that "the electricity produced by the station belongs to Ukraine," stressing that attempts to transfer electricity to "occupied areas" are unacceptable, as he put it.

Moscow and Kiev have accused each other for weeks of bombing the station's site, which raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe.

It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to allow the arrival of a mission to the station "as soon as possible to help stabilize the nuclear security and security situation at the site."

Agency director Rafael Grossi said he wanted to visit the site within days, warning of the danger of disaster.