The International Atomic Energy Agency called for the start of consultations to establish a security zone at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant in southern Ukraine controlled by Russia, stressing the need for additional measures to prevent a nuclear accident as a result of the destruction caused by military tools. Meanwhile, land and sea confrontations between Russian forces on various axes continue. .
In a report published Tuesday on Ukraine, the IAEA said that the agency remains deeply concerned by the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, noting the need to establish a "security zone" to avoid any nuclear accident at the plant, and said that "the current situation cannot continue. Temporary measures are taken. It's urgent."
The 52-page report said that the agency's monitoring team monitored the presence of Russian troops, equipment and military vehicles at the Zaporozhye plant, and also monitored the presence of an expert team from the Russian Rosnergoatum nuclear plant.
The report recommended improving the conditions in which the Ukrainian employees who run the station work, and the agency said that "Ukrainian employees who run the station under the Russian military occupation are under great and constant pressure, especially because of the limited number of employees available."
"This is unsustainable and could lead to an increase in human error, with implications for nuclear safety," she added.
In the same context, the head of the Ukrainian nuclear energy company, Petro Kotin, said that the fighting around the Zaporozhye plant threatens to disrupt the operations of water cooling systems and may lead us to a nuclear disaster.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he added that in the wake of the latest strikes on Monday, the plant had cut off its connection to the Ukrainian electric grid for the first time, making it dependent on its own energy to operate safety systems.
Kotin warned that shutting down cooling systems risked a catastrophe similar to the collapse of the Fukushima plant in Japan in 2011. The Ukrainian official called for disarmament around the Zaporozhye nuclear plant.
Continuing the battles
In the meantime, ground and air operations continue between the Russian and Ukrainian forces on various axes, especially on the southern front, where the Russian forces bombed ten towns located in the vicinity of the combat zones in the Zaporozhye region, and bombed other targets in cities and villages on the southern front.
On the Eastern Front, the Russian forces bombed the city of Bakhmut, as well as several cities and its suburbs in the Ukrainian Donetsk Province, where citizens' homes were damaged.
Today, Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the downing of 3 Ukrainian Su-25 fighters in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, according to ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
Konashenkov also confirmed the bombing of 3 missile and artillery depots near the Velikoy Artakovo region, and said that the Ukrainian army lost in one day "12 tanks, 11 military vehicles, 8 armored vehicles, 6 armed pickups and more than 210 soldiers, in the Mykolaiv-Krivorsky region."
There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side on the Russian spokesman's statements.
On the other hand, the governor of the city of Oleh Senhopov said that the Russian forces launched a missile attack on the city, adding that a two-storey building in the industrial district was destroyed by the bombing.
Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces bombed Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, and destroyed an apartment building in the city center, and three people, including an elderly woman, were killed in the bombing.
Ukrainian officials also said that Russia also bombed an oil depot in the town of Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian authorities had issued a warning this morning of Russian air strikes in conjunction with explosions that occurred in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
For its part, the Ukrainian Marine Corps broadcast footage that showed an attack in the Kherson region with tanks and armored vehicles on Russian positions.
For its part, the Russian RIA Novosti news agency quoted the head of the Civil Military Administration in Kherson as saying that the Ukrainian forces bombed the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station and the surrounding area in Kherson last night, in an operation that lasted until dawn, during which Ukrainian forces fired more than 70 missiles, most of which were shot down.
The agency also reported that the pro-Russian governor of the Ukrainian city of Berdyansk was seriously injured as a result of a car explosion in which he was traveling.
Zaporozhye bombing
Meanwhile, Moscow and Kiev accused each other on Tuesday of engaging in a risky bombardment of the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, which caused a power outage in the nearby town of Enerhodar.
Russia's designated authorities and Governor Dmitro Orlov, who fled Enerhodar, confirmed the blackout via the Telegram messaging service on Tuesday.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed in a message on Telegram that "the Ukrainian armed forces fired artillery 15 times at the town of Energodar and on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant."
She pointed out that three shells fell on the ground of the station, and one of them exploded near the water storage tanks near the second reactor.
On the other hand, Zelensky accused Russia of bombing the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, describing the bombing as provocative, and said that the nuclear plant was one step away from a radiological disaster due to the bombing that separated it from the power grid.
Russian forces took control of the station, which is operated by Ukrainian employees, in early March, shortly after the start of the war on Ukraine.
Visa Suspension
On the other hand, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Vonder Leyen, suggested the complete suspension of the Schengen visa facilitation agreement with Russia and the non-recognition of Russian passports issued in the occupied Ukrainian regions, she said.
And she added in a tweet on her Twitter that facilitating obtaining visas is a symbol of trust, which was completely destroyed by the "Russian war of aggression", as she put it.