Advancing Russian forces stepped up their offensive of key military installations in Ukraine on Thursday, shelling the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and capturing the southern city of Kherson.
The attack on the power plant took place in Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River, where the atomic energy station generates 25% of Ukraine's power. Fire has broken out at the plant, CNN reports, citing Dmytro Orlov, the mayor of Enerhodar.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is also the largest in Europe and bigger than the one that caused the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, Ukraine.
As news of the shelling spread, U.S. stock futures took a dive; Dow futures were down 0.76% to 33,482; Nasdaq futures fell 1.31% to 13,848 and S&P futures were off 1.03%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei plummeted 2.75% in early morning trade.
The Associated Press quoted Andriy Tuz, spokesperson for the plant in Enerhodar, as saying, “We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire.”
“There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe,” he said in a video posted on Telegram.
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Multiple citizen reports both on the ground and via social media showed fires and damage to the plant late Thursday.
Russian military representatives have confirmed to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the territory surrounding the plant is now in Russian hands, Newsweek reported.
Authorities in Ukraine had been asking for a no-fly zone above the power plant but have been rebuffed, as NATO worried that it could spark direct conflict between Western troops and the Russian military.
Early this week the United Nations issued an alarm that Russian shelling could damage any one of Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.
The damage to the plant brought back devastating reminders of the world's worst nuclear accident, when one of four reactors at the Chernobyl plant in the northern part of Ukraine exploded during a safety test. in 1986.
Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union when the disaster happened.
Meanwhile, Russia also has said it continues the effort to end Ukraine's access to the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, a move which would effectively sever the beleaguered nation's supply lines.
