U.S.: Russian Attack on Ukrainian Power Plant a “War Crime”

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv accused the Russian troops who attacked the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, of committing “a war crime.”

A Russian projectile hit the plant in the southeastern part of the country early Friday morning, igniting a localized fire that resulted in widespread concern of a possible second coming of the Chernobyl disaster, though those fears have not come to fruition yet. Two people were injured in the conflict.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces now control the facility, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, while International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mario Grossi said in a statement that the plant continues to be operated by its regular staff and there had been no release of radioactive material.

“It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin’s shelling of Europe’s largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further. #TheHague #Zaporizhzhia #StandwithUkraine,” the embassy said on social media.

EXPERTS FEAR DANGEROUS PUTIN CLOSING IN ON ‘UNWINNABLE WAR’ WITH ‘NO OFF-RAMP’

Ukrainian officials announced hours later that the fire “was extinguished,” and they told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the fire “has not affected ‘essential’ equipment,” according to an IAEA update, which also noted that “plant personnel [are] taking mitigatory actions.”

Despite the lucky break, IAEA officials put their Incident and Emergency Center “in full response mode due to the situation,” the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency announced, and in a new update, the IAEA said it had been informed by Ukrainian officials that the “localized” blaze was in a “training building in the vicinity of one of the plant’s reactor units.”

A U.S. senior defense official told reporters Friday that they hadn’t seen any evidence of “radioactive leakage.” The official could not refute that Russians had overtaken the facility, but could not speak to the possible continuation of operation there.

Of the six reactors, Unit 1 is down for maintenance, Units 2 and 3 have undergone a controlled shutdown, Unit 4 is operating at 60% power, and the final two are being held in low power mode, the IAEA explained.

“I’m extremely concerned about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP and what happened there during the night. Firing shells in the area of a nuclear power plant violates the fundamental principle that the physical integrity of nuclear facilities must be maintained and kept safe at all time,” Grossi said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of resorting to “nuclear terror” as he maintained that Ukrainian forces have tried to avoid any “provocation” at the plant.

NATO allies have tried to support the Ukrainian defense while stopping short of direct involvement in the conflict for fear of a war between nuclear-weapon states. Various countries have provided arms and humanitarian supplies to Ukraine, though the fighting around the largest nuclear power plant in Europe raised the specter of a nuclear crisis even without NATO’s intervention.