President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has informed the United Nations that Russia is plotting further strikes on his country’s nuclear power reactors.
He claimed he had acquired intelligence indicating that Moscow was utilising satellites provided by other countries to gather information about Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure.
Mr. Zelensky warned the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that
radiation does not respect state borders, and many nations may suffer devastating consequences.
Russia has repeatedly targeted energy facilities across Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The UN nuclear watchdog warned last month that safety at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine was deteriorating.
It followed a strike near the site’s perimeter, close to essential water sprinkler ponds and about 100m from the only remaining high-voltage line.
The plant was seized by Russian forces early in the war and has come under repeated attacks, which both sides have blamed the other for.
Zelensky said in his speech on Wednesday that Russia had destroyed all of Ukraine’s thermal power plants and a large part of its hydroelectric capacity as a way to “torment” Ukrainians ahead of winter.
While in the United States, Zelensky says he plans to meet President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
In his UN speech, Zelensky also criticized China and Brazil for pushing for negotiations with Russia, questioning their motives.
He reaffirmed his call for countries to support his recommendations for a full and just peace, emphasizing that Russian soldiers must withdraw from Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders in order to end the war.
Ukraine would not accept a return to a “brutal, colonial past,” he added.
