On the day the Russians accused Kiev forces of hitting the Chongar Bridge with missiles linking Crimea to the Kherson region, partially occupied by Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sounded the alarm that Russia was considering an attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. He accuses denial by the Kremlin. Local officials appointed by Moscow reported the attack on the bridge in Crimea. According to Vladimir Saldo, the pro-Russian governor of Kherson, the bridge was hit by UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles. The Crimea peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, is connected to mainland Ukraine by an isthmus about 9 kilometers wide and by several bridges: one of these, the Chongar, has been hit by missiles, threatening a key supply link to the Russian forces in the initial phase of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. The Russian military has so far relied on the Chongar Bridge as the main link for its forces in the Kherson region. Kiev, which usually refrains from commenting on specific attacks, has not claimed responsibility, but spokeswoman for the Armed Forces’ Southern Command Natalia Humeniuk on TV stressed the importance of inflicting blows on Russian logistics. Moscow for its part has tried to play down the damage, stressing that although it could take weeks to reopen the bridge completely, traffic can still continue on one lane and two other crossings are also available.
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In this context, the alarm reached the Zaporizhzhia plant. «Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering a terrorist attack scenario at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: a terrorist attack with the release of radiation. They have prepared everything for this», is the warning launched by Zelensky, who underlined on Telegram that «radiation knows no state borders and who it will hit is determined only by the direction of the wind». “We are sharing all available information with our partners, all over the world. All evidence. Europe, America, China, Brazil, India, the Arab world, Africa: all countries, everyone must know this. international organizations. All of them,” he said again. And Zelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak went one step further, asking the world to announce already now what the consequences would be if the scenario were to materialize: «Whether the Kremlin decides to carry out this scenario today depends only on the reaction of the global world. The red lines need to be defined. The consequences must be announced. Not tomorrow. Today”. While Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov branded everything as “another lie” by Zelensky. What is certain is that the IAEA believes that “the nuclear safety situation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is extremely fragile”, said its director Rafael Grossi, “now more than ever, all parties must fully adhere to the fundamental principles of the IAEA to prevent nuclear accidents”.
From Stockholm, however, where the informal General Affairs Council was held, the EU presidency, through the mouth of the Swedish Minister for European Affairs Jessika Roswall, underlined that, “as for Ukraine, it is impressive to see the reform efforts made in last year’, ‘despite extraordinary circumstances, Ukraine has made significant progress’. As examples Roswall cited “the proposed law on the new Constitutional Court, the adoption of a law on the media, as well as a new law on publicity and the reform of important judicial bodies, the appointment of new anti-corruption authorities”. “I have no doubts that Ukraine will be part of our Union,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday in London, speaking at the Conference for Reconstruction, where international commitments were made for 60 billion dollars.