Every minute of Russian military presence on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant creates risks of nuclear disaster. Such a statement made the President of Ukraine.

“Today, for the first time in history, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant stopped. The emergency protection of the power units worked - after the last working line of the plant"s power return to the Ukrainian power system was damaged by Russian shelling.

Diesel generators were immediately activated to provide energy to the plant itself, to support it after the shutdown. The world must understand what a threat this is: if the diesel generators hadn’t turned on, if the automation and our staff of the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident. Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.

The south of Ukraine - the occupied areas - is already in a state of humanitarian disaster. In addition to all the evil that the occupiers brought there, electricity, water and sewage were cut off. Russia has brought degradation to our land, which has never been seen here.

I want to assure all Ukrainians: we are doing everything to prevent an emergency scenario. But it depends not only on our state.

The key thing is that such international pressure is needed that will force the occupiers to immediately withdraw from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The IAEA and other international organizations must act much faster than they’re acting now.

Because every minute the Russian troops stay at the nuclear power plant is a risk of a global radiation disaster”, - said Volodymyr Zelensky.