09/25/2024September 25, 2024
Zelenskyy alleges Russian plans to attack nuclear plants at UN
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, dedicating much of his speech to the topic of the security of nuclear power plants and the fragility of Ukraine’s bombarded electricity generation and distribution capacities.
He said in his opening remarks that he wanted to talk about “a day that has already passed, and a day that must never come.” The day that had passed was “on the night of March 4, 2022,” when Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has six reactors and is the largest nuclear plant in Europe.
“The Russian army stormed this facility just as brutally as any other during this war, without thinking about the consequences,” Zelenskyy told UN delegates.
He called this “one of the most horrifying moments of the war, when no one could know how Russian strikes on the nuclear facility would end, and everyone in Ukraine was reminded of what Chernobyl means.”
He noted how the facility remained in Russian hands, and lauded a UN General Assembly call on Russia to return it to Ukrainian control.
In reference to the day “that must never come,” Zelenskyy turned to Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure more generally, calling it a tactic seeking to force Kyiv to capitulate in the cold winter months. He also claimed Russia was planning attacks on Ukrainian power plants.
“Any missile or drone strike, any criticial incident in the energy system, could lead to a nuclear disaster,” he said.
“As of today, Russia has destroyed all our thermal power plants, and a large part of our hydroelectric capacity,” Zelenskyy said. “This is how Putin is preparing for winter, hoping to torment millions of Ukrianians. Ordinary families, women, children, ordinary towns, ordinary villages. Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter, forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender.”
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