The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said “powerful explosions” rocked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine overnight and Sunday morning.
The UN nuclear watchdog said some buildings, equipment, and systems at the plant, which is under Russian control, have been damaged but there has been nothing critical to nuclear safety and security.
“Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Twitter. “You’re playing with fire,” he added.
He again appealed to Russia and Ukraine to agree to set up a “safety zone” around the plant.
It would require Moscow and Kyiv to stop military action in and around the plant.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Sunday accused Kyiv of shelling the territory around Zaporizhzhia.
It said Ukraine “does not stop its provocations aiming at creating the threat of a man-made catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.”
In turn, Ukraine’s nuclear energy firm Energoatom blamed the Russian military for the shelling.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, which Russia occupied shortly after its invasion of Ukraine, has since come under repeated shelling, with both Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of attacks and risking a nuclear accident.
The facility, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, provided about a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, and has been forced to operate on back-up generators a number of times.
Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Sunday, November 20:
Poland holds funeral for second missile victim
Both men who were killed by a missile that hit a Polish village near the Ukrainian border have been laid to rest.
The first victim, a 62-year-old warehouse manager, was buried on Saturday. The Polish military also took part in the funeral procession.
On Sunday, a funeral was held for the second victim. The family of the 59-year-old tractor driver had asked that the ceremony be held without the participation of Poland’s military.
The two men were killed on Tuesday when a missile hit the village of Przewodow, located 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Western officials have said the missile explosion was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray during a barrage of attacks from Russia on Tuesday.
Poland, the United States and NATO leaders say they believe Russia is ultimately to blame for the deaths, as the incident would not have occurred if Kyiv wasn’t forced to defend itself from Russian attacks.
Poland has launched an investigation into the source and circumstances of the missile, along with support from Ukrainian and US investigators.
Estonia to send power generators to Ukraine
The Estonian government will send 27 municipal buses to Ukraine, officials announced late on Saturday.
“To help Ukrainian society function as humanely as possible in parallel with the war, Ukraine must be supported not only militarily and politically, but also with humanitarian aid,” said Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu.
Private donors in the Baltic nation have also raised funds to buy 13 power generators for Ukraine, which is experiencing wide-ranging blackouts due to Russian strikes on critical infrastructure. The power generators will be supplied by the Estonian branch of the Lion’s Club.
The generators will specifically be sent to schools and children’s groups working in emergency shelters, Estonian media reported.
More on the war in Ukraine
Berlin is one of the German cities that has taken in the most refugees from Ukraine. But the German capital is running out of room, and now plans on adding 10,000 beds to emergency shelters in hangars and tents.
Ukrainians who fled the Russian-occupied city of Kherson have made an emotional journey back home one week after its liberation. The first train from Kyiv was welcomed in Kherson with cheers and tearful reunions.
rs, lo/ kb (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Skepticism lingers in Ukrainian town liberated from Russians
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Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-updates-nuclear-plant-rocked-by-explosions/a-63823918?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf