Russia seizes Europe's largest nuclear plant: Facility which provides 20% of Ukraine's power falls to enemy troops after being set on fire by shelling - as Zelensky accuses Putin of 'nuclear terror' and says he is trying to cause a repeat of Chernobyl
- Europe's largest nuclear power plant, at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, was attacked by Russian troops overnight
- Gun battle and shelling by Russian forces sparked fire at the complex, with firefighters blocked from going in
- Flames were eventually doused after several hours, before Russian forces moved in and captured the plant
- President Zelensky accused Putin of resorting to 'nuclear terror' and risking a catastrophe 'six times worse than Chernobyl', while Boris Johnson said his 'reckless' actions 'threaten the security of the whole of Europe'
By CHRIS JEWERS and HARRIET ALEXANDER and KAYA TERRY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:33 AEDT, 4 March 2022 | UPDATED: 19:15 AEDT, 4 March 2022
Russian troops have seized Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine after a firefight that set part of the complex ablaze with President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Putin of resorting to 'nuclear terror' and risking a catastrophe 'six times worse than Chernobyl' that would affect the whole continent.
Russian troops attacked the Zaporizhzhia plant in the early hours of Friday, with CCTV capturing a fierce gun battle between Putin's men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-storey training building just outside the main complex. Moscow's men then stopped firefighters getting to the building for several hours as fighting raged.
Eventually, emergency crews were allowed to go in and douse the flames before Russian troops moved in an occupied the site, which provides a fifth of Ukraine's electricity. The UN's nuclear monitoring agency said that, fortunately, none of the site's six reactors had been directly damaged and radiation levels remained normal.
Ukraine war: The latest
- Fire at Europe's biggest nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia is put out after Ukraine accuses Russia of 'nuclear terror' in shelling the plant Russian troops later take the reactors
- Russia admits 'limiting' access to news websites including the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, independent Russian site Meduza and Germany's Deutsche Welle, with Facebook blocked
- Russian lawmakers approve legislation providing up to 15 years in jail for any publication of fake news about the Russian armed forces
- Thirty-three people are killed as Russian forces hit residential areas, including schools, in the northern city of Chernihiv
- Russia and Ukraine agree to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from cities
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow's advance is going 'according to plan'
- Senior US Republican senator Lindsey Graham calls for 'somebody in Russia' to assassinate Putin
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for direct talks with Putin as the 'only way to stop the war'
- Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson as it appears Moscow is trying to cut Ukraine's access to the sea
- US and EU offer temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees so far numbering more than 1million
- Russians pack trains out of the country to Finland, fearful that it is their last chance to escape the impact of swingeing Western sanctions
- Sanctioned Russian oil giant Lukoil calls for a halt to fighting in Ukraine, one of the first major domestic firms to speak out
- Russian tech giant Yandex warns it may default on its debt after it was suspended from trading on New York's digital stock exchange
- The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank suspends business with Russia and Belarus in a sign of their deepening pariah status
- Ex-Soviet states Georgia and Moldova - which borders Ukraine's threatened south - apply to join the EU
- The Beijing Winter Paralympics opens with Russian athletes banned
However, news that Russian soldiers had put the plant at risk by opening fire close by and shelling it sparked dire warnings and international condemnation - with the head of the International Nuclear Energy Agency saying he was 'deeply concerned'. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spoke with Zelensky after the plant was attacked, called the attack 'reckless' and said Putin is now 'threatening the security of the whole of Europe'.
Ukraine is home to three other active nuclear power plants, one of which is located 70 miles from the city of Mykolaiv which Russian forces have begun attacking after seizing nearby Kherson. The other two active sites are located in the west and are not currently under threat, though that situation could change as the Russian attack branches out. Ukraine also has five sites which are out of action, but could still pose a risk if hit by shells.
Russia's war against Ukraine is now entering its ninth day and shows no sign of stopping any time soon after talks between the two sides yesterday broke up without agreement, before Vladimir Putin went on TV to declare that he would keep battling for 'total victory' whilst spouting propaganda that Russia's forces are not deliberately targeting civilians and that the 'special operation' is proceeding on time with all of its major objectives completed to schedule.
Fighting is expected to ramp up around the cities of Mykolaiv and Odessa, in Ukraine's south, in the coming days - with a mass amphibious assault on Odessa feared after dozens of Russian landing ships were pictured massing near Crimea.
The port city of Kherson fell to Russian soldiers yesterday with the city of Mariupol, on the other side of the Crimean peninsula, now under heavy bombardment as Moscow's men try to bomb it into submission - with the aim being to cut off Ukrainian access to the Black Sea and deny the government access to lucrative trading routes.
Fighting is also continuing across the north and east, with Ukrainian special forces ambushing and destroying Russian tanks and armoured vehicles at Hostomel - to the west of the city - and Brovary - to the east - late yesterday and this morning. Ukraine also claimed its jets have targeted part of a 40-mile convoy currently stalled outside the city, amid fears it would encircle the capital and bombard it.
Meanwhile Chernihiv, to the north east of Kyiv, and Kharkiv, in Ukraine's east, were braced for more heavy shelling today after days of increasingly indiscriminate attacks including with banned cluster munitions have left dozens of civilians dead.
President Putin is also stepping up actions on the home front, intended to head off internal dissent about the war as combat proves fiercer and harder than his generals anticipated, and western sanctions destroy large chunks of the economy.
Russia's rubber-stamp parliament on Friday approved new laws that would see anyone spreading 'fake news' about the invasion jailed for up to 15 years. Putin had previously threatened and shut down radio and TV stations referring to the 'war' or 'invasion' of Ukraine - which Moscow prefers to call a 'special military operation'.
Moscow also admitted to limiting news from outside sources getting into the country, with the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, independent Russian site Meduza and Germany's Deutsche Welle all restricted, while access to Facebook has been blocked.
Putin has also gone after peaceful protesters, with thousands arrested while marching in rallies around the country asking for the conflict to end.
President Zelensky accused Russia on Friday of unleashing 'nuclear terror' after his forces attacked the plant, claiming the Russian leader wanted to repeat the Chernobyl disaster - considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.
'You know the word Chernobyl,' he said in a video posted on Friday morning, calling on Russia to stop its attack on a nuclear power plant 350 miles south of Kyiv.
'No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units.
'This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind.
'The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror,' he said in the video message.
Zelensky said: 'Europe needs to wake up. The biggest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire right now.
'Russian tanks are shooting at the nuclear blocks. These are tanks equipped with thermal imagers, so they know what they are aiming at.'
Meanwhile, Moscow's isolation deepened on Friday, with Airbnb becoming the latest company to pull out of the country - following Ikea, BP, Shell, HSBC, Apple and Nike.
'Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus,' tweeted the CEO, Brian Chesky.
Sparks erupt from an administration building (bottom right) as a live steam video shot from a larger office block behind it films Russian tanks opening fire on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday morning
A projectile (the bright light, bottom left) lands in a car park at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, damaging cars in the area
Intel and Airbnb announced they were pausing business in Russia and Belarus on Thursday, joining a US tech freeze-out of Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
The United States and European allies have imposed tough sanctions on Russia over the attack, with major corporations across a range of industries following suit by freezing business in the country.
Apple has halted all product sales in Russia and limited the use of Apple Pay, while Facebook, YouTube and Microsoft have moved to curb the reach of Russian state-linked news outlets.
'Intel condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and we have suspended all shipments to customers in both Russia and Belarus,' the chipmaker said in a statement.
'Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war.'
Airbnb's co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, who has added a Ukrainian flag to his Twitter profile, tweeted that the company 'is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus,' without giving further details.
The vacation-rentals platform also announced on Monday that it would offer free short-term stays for up to 100,000 people fleeing fighting in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian offensive, one million refugees have left the Eastern European country, the United Nations said Thursday.
Airbnb's offer echoes aid extended by the firm last August to people escaping Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.
The California-based company has also faced scrutiny over its presence in China in recent weeks.
Research released this month showed Airbnb had hundreds of listings in Xinjiang and Tibet, two regions where China stands accused of widespread human rights abuses.
Airbnb told AFP at the time that it operates 'where the US government allows us to' and has a 'rigorous process... to help ensure we follow applicable rules.'
Zaporizhzhia has six nuclear reactors, making it the largest of its kind in Europe, and accounts for about one quarter of Ukraine's power generation. One report said the fire was about 150 meters away from one of the reactors
The mayor of Enerhodar, the town that is home to the plant, said earlier that Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the city's outskirts.
Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars, just a day after the U.N. atomic watchdog agency expressed grave concern that the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.
Ukrainian authorities reported Russian troops were stepping up efforts to seize the plant and had entered the town with tanks on Thursday, in a bid to win control of the key energy producing region.
Civilians defied Russian troops for a second day running to protect the nuclear plant. They were shown setting up make-shift road blocks in an attempt to barricade the route to the facility.
Both the Ukrainian state atomic energy company and Orlov warned troops were nearing Zaporizhzhia power station. Officials said loud shots were heard in the city late Thursday.
'Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikov have come into the city. They are breaking down door and trying to get into the apartments of local residents,' the statement from Energoatom said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal joined Ukraine's president in calling on the West to close the skies over Ukraine's nuclear plants as fighting intensified around the major energy hub on the left bank of the Dnieper River and the Khakhovka Reservoir.
Shmyhal said he already had appealed to NATO and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' atomic watchdog.
'Close the skies over Ukraine! It is a question of the security of the whole world!' Shmyhal said in a statement Thursday evening.
The U.S. and NATO allies have ruled out creating a no-fly zone since the move would directly pit Russian and Western militaries, with fears such an action could be the spark that sets off a third World War.
Earlier, huge plumes of black smoke and fire were seen coming from a makeshift barricade on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site, as an air raid siren wailed in the background.
Footage, taken earlier today, showed armed men holding guns and wearing bulletproof vests as rounds of ammunition appeared to be fired by Russian troops.
Two brave civilians can be seen throwing molotov cocktails in the direction of Russian forces, in a video posted to Facebook by mayor Orlov.
Missiles lighting up the sky have also been fired on Thursday evening as Russian troops advance through Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia is the largest of Ukraine's nuclear sites, with six out of the country's 15 reactors.
Russia has already seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.
Research by specialists for Greenpeace International found that, in a worst-case scenario where explosions destroy the reactor containment and cooling systems at Zaporizhzhia, it could create a disaster far worse even than Fukushima in Japan in 2011.
Huge plums of black smoke and fire were seen coming from a makeshift barricade on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site in eastern Ukraine, as an air raid siren wailed in the background
The footage, taken earlier today, showed armed men holding guns and wearing bulletproof vests as rounds of ammunition appeared to be fired by Russian troops
On Wednesday Ukrainian civilians built makeshift roadblocks with bright orange lorries and piles of tyres on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site.
Brandishing Ukrainian flags, the army of volunteers created a human barricade near the city of Enerhodar to stop advancing Russian troops.
Footage posted on social media showed the blockade, reportedly a kilometre long and comprising scrap cars, garbage trucks and sandbags.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry, warned on Wednesday the Russians could create a 'new Chernobyl' if the plant was damaged.
'Because of Vladimir Putin's madness, Europe is again on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe,' he wrote on Facebook.
'The city where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located is preparing for a battle with the invaders. An accident can happen like at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
'Russian generals – think again! Radiation does not know nationalities, does not spare anyone!'
Russia has written to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying its forces have taken control of the area around the plant.
Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians defied Russian troops on Wednesday in a bid to protect Europe's largest nuclear plant Zaporizhzhia
Brandishing Ukrainian flags, the army of volunteers created a human barricade near the city of Enerhodar to stop advancing Russian troops
Footage posted on social media showed the blockade, reportedly a kilometre long and comprising scrap cars, garbage trucks and sandbags
Locals of Zaporizhzhia prepare and carry sand bags inside and outside of the hospital so that it is less affected by the Russian attack
A man carries a sandbag to seal the entrance to the Emergency Care Hospital in Zaporizhzhia, the site of the Europe's largest nuclear plant
The UN nuclear watchdog said Moscow claimed technicians at Zaporizhzhia were continuing their 'work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation'.
The letter on Wednesday added: 'The radiation levels remain normal.'
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned on Wednesday that any 'accident involving the nuclear facilities in Ukraine could have severe consequences for public health and the environment'.
He said it was 'imperative to ensure that the brave people who operate, regulate, inspect and assess the nuclear facilities in Ukraine can continue to do their indispensable jobs safely, unimpeded and without undue pressure'.
Jan Vande Putte, co-author of the risk analysis, said: 'So long as this war continues the military threat to Ukraine's nuclear plants will remain.
'This is one further reason, amongst so many, why Putin needs to immediately cease his war on Ukraine.'
The fight to protect Zaporizhzhia is symbolic of the everyday heroism shown by the Ukrainian people.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, told the BBC he had seen a line 'hours long' of civilians queuing up to get weapons.
'Right now, people are proud,' the former world champion boxer said.
His brother Wladimir, who was also a top fighter, said: 'This is our home. Our parents are buried here, our children go to school here.
'Why should we flee? What would you do if someone gets in to your house? You defend it.'
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Russia seizes Europe's largest nuclear plant: Facility which provides 20% of Ukraine's power falls
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