Global leaders have expressed their condemnation as the Russian soldiers have struck a nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
The Zaporizhia nuclear plant, which is the continent’s largest, was assaulted by Russia and subsequently exploded.
The facility has now been deemed safe and radiation levels have returned to normal, according to authorities.
The “reckless” assault, as the UK’s Boris Johnson termed it, “could directly endanger the safety of everyone in Europe.”
The United States and its allies have officially condemned the attack, with US President Barack Obama urging Russia to cease military operations in the area.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Russian “atrocities” must stop immediately. All three leaders phoned President Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss the situation there.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was using “nuclear terror” and wanted to repeat the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.
“If there is an explosion, it would be the end of everything. The end of Europe,” he claimed.
The nuclear plant’s video feed showed explosions lighting up the night sky and producing plumes of smoke.
According to workers at the plant, the fire erupted near a training facility outside of the facility’s perimeter, and only one of the plant’s six reactors was operational.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated that the fire had not damaged “fundamental” equipment at the plant and radiation levels had not risen.
The IAEA, however, stated that it was in “full 24/7 reaction mode” owing to the “grave situation” at the power station.
Ukrainian emergency services were initially prevented from accessing the fire scene, prompting President Obama to publicly demand that Russia allow firefighters access.
On Friday, Johnson announced that he will request an emergency UN Security Council session on Saturday over the assault.
Attacking a nuclear plant was considered unprecedented and the danger remained severe, according to experts.
The “worst-case scenario” would be if a fire at the facility caused a meltdown and resulted in radiation contamination of the surrounding region for years, according to nuclear expert Dr. Graham Allison from Harvard University.
But he also stated it was more likely that Russian troops were attempting to “seal off the electricity supply in the area” than target the facility.
The power plant, about 550 kilometers (342 miles) south-east of Kyiv, accounts for almost a quarter of Ukraine’s electricity generation.
The Russian military has already seized control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, which became the site of the worst nuclear catastrophe in history.
Asia share prices dropped sharply following the most recent Zaporizhzhia incident.
Over one million people have left Ukraine since the starting of the Invasion last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not given up irrespective of the imposition of sanctions from world countries.
He is executing his plans without any hesitation and it is something that has put the entire world in a state of worry.
He has issued a nuclear alert due to “provocative statements” made by the West. On Friday, European officials will meet to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.
As the world leaders plan to tighten their hold on Russia, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss declared it one of the significant days of diplomacy in world history.