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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Daniel Boffey in Brussels, Peter Beaumont in Lviv and Jon Henley

Russia steps up onslaught after Ukraine ‘narrowly’ escapes nuclear disaster

A house on fire following shelling on the town of Irpin, west of Kyiv, Ukraine.
A house on fire following shelling on the town of Irpin, west of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Oleksandr Ratushniak/AP

The US envoy to the UN said the world had narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe in Russia’s attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, as Moscow’s forces intensified their devastating campaign of artillery and airstrikes against civilian areas of Ukraine.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN security council in New York on Friday, the US envoy said Russia’s actions, which caused a major fire at the Zaporizhzhia compound, reflected a “dangerous new escalation” in its invasion of Ukraine. “Russia’s attack last night put Europe’s largest nuclear power plant at grave risk,” she said. “It was incredibly reckless and dangerous. And it threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and Europe.”

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