SHOCK AND AWE
FEARS of a catastrophe were mounting today after another Ukrainian nuclear plant was reportedly struck by Russian missiles.
Dramatic footage caught the moment huge explosions were seen near the Pivdennoukrayinska nuclear power plant in the southern Mykolaiv region early this morning, but the reactors are undamaged.
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Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom claimed the Russian rockets landed 300 meters from the nuclear reactors shortly after midnight.
Herman Halushchenko, the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, claimed Russia is putting "the world on the brink of nuclear disaster out of despair, in order to achieve at least some concessions in its energetic blackmail of Europe".
On a Facebook post, the minister continued: "We see Europe’s resilience in the fight against the energy aggression of Russia. But the need the stop Russian nuclear terrorism in Ukraine requires double efforts.
"If "nuclear winter" comes, the issue of high prices on electronics will lose its topicality. The world must finally give a tough response to the terrorist state. Right now it is not too late, and nuclear disaster is only a threat which, sadly, grows more real every day."
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The attack, meanwhile, damaged a nearby hydroelectric plant and transmission line, according to Reuters. The blast also blew windows and cause short term power outage.
"Currently, all three power units of the PNPP (Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant) are operating normally. Fortunately, there were no casualties among the station staff," Energoatom said.
President Zelensky also condemned the attack on the Telegram messaging app.
"The invaders wanted to shoot again, but they forgot what a nuclear power plant is. Russia endangers the whole world. We have to stop it before it's too late."
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Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took to Twitter as she feared that rising radiation levels could end in another Chernobyl disaster.
"Last night the world came close to a nuclear disaster once again, as a Russian rocket struck just 300 meters from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant," she said on Twitter.
"This nuclear blackmail endangers not only Ukraine & Belarus, but the entire world."
The Mykolaiv region has been under constant shelling in recent weeks, following Putin's army suffering heavy losses from Ukraine’s counterattack.
The latest nuclear catastrophe fears come after Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, was shut down earlier this month following Russian shelling.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, located 250 km from Pivdennoukrayinska, is held by Russian troops but operated by Ukrainian personnel.
The head of the UN nuclear agency Rafael Grossi warned that the "physical integrity" of the nuclear power plant had been "violated several" times by shelling during the invasion of Ukraine.
Grossi was part of a 14-strong UN delegation that visited the plant in early September.
Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors spread throughout the country, which provide half of its electricity.
Russians living just miles from the Ukraine border fear Zelensky's forces will invade as Putin's war faces repeated setbacks.
Vladimir Putin's troops have lost more territory in a matter of days than they gained in more than six months of the war as Russian soldiers stage a hasty retreat amid a Ukrainian blitz.
Russia has lost some $1 billion in military equipment during the three-week counterattack which has seen tanks and ammunition abandoned by fleeing battalions.
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Dramatic footage has captured Russian troops surrendering en masse with reports of plummeting morale among the soldiers.
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The calamitous situation for Putin has left those living in Russia's Belgorod fearing for their safety as fed-up forces flood into the region.
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