Russia attacks a nuclear power plant, the fire is under control …

4:45 am: The situation is under control at the nuclear power plant

After several hours of tension, the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has become reassuring. And the emergency services announced that Russian forces, who fired on the building and caused a fire in an office building near the (inactive) reactor, allowed Ukrainian firefighters to reach the site at 5:20 a.m. (4:20 a.m. Paris time).

A little earlier, the head of the Zaporizhzhya Military Administration noted that security was “guaranteed”: “The director of the plant indicated that now nuclear security is guaranteed. According to plant officials, a training building and a laboratory were damaged by a fire.

Fighting broke out shortly after midnight (Paris time). In a live broadcast from a botanical camera, what appeared to be flares were seen falling near the plant and then the smoke dissipated. But it appears that Russian artillery fire hit the administration building.

The plant, which is the most powerful in Europe, provides 20% of electricity in Ukraine. Authorities said the reactor near the fire was inactive. However, it does contain nuclear fuel, so a leak could have occurred. On the other hand, a reactor core collapse, as in Chernobyl, was unlikely.