President’s Office: Situation in Chornobyl is dangerous, no one understands what is happening there

Iryna Balachuk, Sevhil Musayeva – Thursday, 10 March 2022, 09:08

The situation at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant is dangerous. The station’s electricity supply is currently cut off due to the actions of Russian troops, and no one understands what is going on there now.

Source: Mykhaylo Podolyak, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine in a comment to journalists

According to Podolyak: "The situation in Chornobyl is overall very dangerous. It is critical that certain elements of the plant receive a consistent supply of electricity, but due to the occupiers’ actions, these elements have been cut off from stable access to power. This poses a threat to the whole  of Europe. And, of course, to Russia itself."

Details: Podolyak added that not only has the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stopped receiving crucial data from the safety monitoring system, currently no one understands what is going on at the Chornobyl power plant.

According to the presidential advisor, this means that the world needs to put much more pressure on Russia in order to literally squeeze the occupiers out of Ukraine.

He believes that Russia started the war to subdue its neighbours, in the spirit of medieval wars. Therefore, it is not surprising that they are firing at nuclear power units, staging battles on the sites of nuclear facilities and interrupting electricity supplies. According to Podolyak, the Russians do not understand these facilities and may use them to blackmail Ukrainians.

He stressed that the longer the Russian troops remain on Ukraine’s territory, the more "these medieval people" will create problems for everyone in Europe and for themselves.

Background:

• On 9 March, due to the actions of the Russian occupiers, the Chornobyl nuclear power plant was left without electricity.
• The fighting continues, which currently makes it impossible to repair and restore power. The city of Slavutych is also without electricity.
• Nuclear material monitoring systems at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant have stopped transmitting data to the IAEA.
• Subsequently, the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which lost power due to the actions of Russian troops, was connected to reserve diesel generators, which will provide power for 48 hours.