Ukraine’s military chief has claimed there is a direct risk that Russia will use tactical nuclear weapons “under certain circumstances”.
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the supreme commander of the Ukrainian army, added that it was impossible to rule out the direct involvement of global powers in what he called a “limited” nuclear war.
Zaluzhnyi said in an article published by the state news agency Ukrinform: “In certain circumstances, there is a direct threat of the use of tactical nuclear weapons by the Russian armed forces.
Ukraine’s military chief has claimed there is a direct risk that Russia will use tactical nuclear weapons “under certain circumstances” (pictured: Russia’s launch of the Sarmat missile test in April).
A damaged car and buildings are seen in Kharkiv today after shelling during the Russia-Ukraine War
Ukrainian soldiers on a BTR amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) drive out of Bakhmut
“The fighting on the territory of Ukraine has already shown how much the Russian Federation neglects global nuclear security issues even in a conventional war.
“Specifically, since July 2022, Russian troops have established a military base at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and stationed heavy artillery at its premises, including BM-30 Smerch multiple rocket launchers.
“It is difficult to imagine that even nuclear strikes would allow Russia to break Ukraine’s will to resist. But the threat that will arise for all of Europe cannot be ignored.
“The possibility of direct involvement by the leading world powers in a ‘limited’ nuclear conflict that brings the prospect of World War III closer cannot be completely ruled out either.”
The military chief warned that any such provocation would unleash chaos around the world.
Russia has resumed shelling near Zaporizhia just a day after the UN nuclear regulatory agency urged the warring parties to set up a safe zone
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi (pictured), the supreme commander of the Ukrainian army, said Russia could use nuclear weapons
He said: “Any Russian attempt at practical steps in the use of tactical nuclear weapons must be preempted, using the full arsenal of means at the disposal of world powers.
“After all, from this moment on, the Russian Federation will become not only a threat to the peaceful coexistence of Ukraine, its neighbors and a number of European countries, but also a truly global terrorist state.”
Today Russia resumed shelling near Zaporizhia, just a day after the UN nuclear regulatory agency urged the warring parties to set up a safe zone there to avert a disaster.
The town of Nikopol, on the opposite bank of the Dnieper from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, was shelled with rockets and heavy artillery, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said. The report could not be independently verified.
“There are fires, power outages and other things at the (plant) that force us to prepare the local population for the consequences of the nuclear hazard,” Reznichenko said. Officials have been handing out iodine pills to residents in recent days to protect them in the event of a radiation leak.
The IAEA called on Russia and Ukraine to set up a “nuclear safe and secure protection zone” around the facility (pictured).
The fighting around the plant has sounded international alarm.
The head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday that “something very, very catastrophic could happen” in Zaporizhia.
The IAEA called on Russia and Ukraine to set up a “nuclear safety and protection zone” around the facility.
The fear is that the fighting could unleash a disaster on the scale of Ukraine’s 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Neither Moscow nor Kiev officials would immediately commit to the idea of a safe zone, saying more details of the proposal were needed.
Due to damage from the fighting, the plant only generates electricity to power its security systems, a senior Ukrainian official said.
The facility normally relies on external power to run the systems that keep the reactor cores cool and prevent them from melting.
A Ukrainian firefighter extinguishes a fire in a destroyed apartment building after a Russian military strike in Sloviansk
Ruins of a psychiatric hospital are seen in Kramatorsk after Russian night shelling
Any further power disruption could force the plant to deploy back-up diesel generators, but that would mean four diesel trucks a day being put through the fighting, said Oleh Korikov, Ukraine’s acting chief inspector for nuclear and radiation safety.
“We could potentially be in a situation where we run out of diesel,” he said. “And this can lead to an accident with damage to the active zone of the reactors and, accordingly, the release of radioactive products into the environment.”
According to Ukrainian authorities, the plant had to activate its diesel generators late last month due to damage.
Authorities may consider closing the plant, Korikov said, without giving details on how that would work.
The plant’s operator, Energoatom, said that despite the shelling, Ukrainian personnel still working at the Russian-occupied plant will attempt to restore external power to at least one of the seven outside lines in the coming days.
In other developments, Putin resisted pressure to stop the war, saying Moscow will press ahead with its offensive in Ukraine until it achieves its goals. He scoffed at Western attempts to stop Russia with sanctions.
A local resident walks past a street market in Saltivka that was destroyed by military strikes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Heavy fighting was reported on three fronts: in the north, near the city of Kharkiv; to the east in the Donbass industrial region with mines and factories; and to the south, in the Kherson region, where Ukraine has launched a counter-offensive to try to retake areas captured by the Russians earlier in the war.
Ukrainian forces have taken control of an unspecified number of towns in the Kherson region, military spokeswoman Nataliya Humenyuk said.
The eastern city of Sloviansk came under Russian shelling on Wednesday morning, damaging a school and another building, city administration head Vadym Lyakh said.
Firefighters dug deep into the smoldering rubble of an apartment building and freed at least one body. Fragments of brick, masonry, and concrete lay among torn branches, broken glass, and roof tiles. Metal doors, bent by the force of the blast, hung from their hinges.
The strike came around 4 a.m., said resident Raisa Smelkova, 75, who lives in another part of the building. She and her husband were unharmed. The couple witnessed the fighting in Ukraine in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean region.
“What’s happening now is not just scary, it’s horrific,” she said. “There’s more destruction to come. Everything is worse. Just everything.’
The Russian military conducted large-scale military exercises involving forces from China in the east of the country that began last week and ended on Wednesday. It was seen as further evidence of ever-closer ties between Moscow and Beijing amid tensions with the West over the war.
