‘ONE STEP AWAY’

Zelensky: Meltdown at Besieged Nuclear Power Station Was Barely Avoided

After the last power line supplying the plant’s electricity was restored after being cut, Ukrainian and Russian officials traded blame.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that a major radiation accident nearly occurred at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear station after a power line supplying electricity to its remaining reactors was cut. The Ukrainian state nuclear company said fires near the complex caused by Russian “invaders” had caused the power outage. The president confirmed that backup diesel generators had kicked in, restoring electricity to the plant’s crucial cooling and safety systems. “If our station staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident,” he said in an evening address, according to Reuters. “Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.” A Russian-backed official in an occupied town bordering the plant said on Telegram that the fires had been the “result of provocations by Zelensky’s fighters.” Zaporizhzhya has been under Russian control since March, though Ukrainian workers still operate the plant. On Friday, the site was reported to be reconnected to the Ukraine grid.