Fears that Russia may be trying to cause an accident at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in the south of the Ukrainian country have been growing. The special envoy of TSF Ukraine, André Luís Alves, points out the population’s concern about this possibility, but not to the point of making them “want to leave the city or that there is some kind of fear or panic”.
On Sunday it was announced that a hundred Russian workers at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant had left the facility. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently accused Russia of preparing a “terrorist attack” with a radioactive leak at the plant occupied by Russian troops.
André Luís Alves, who was this morning in the city of Nikopol, seven kilometers from the nuclear power plant, says that the rumors of an attack are a reason for conversation among the population.
“It is somehow unanimous that the plant is going to be mined and they say that the problem is precisely that,” says the journalist.
However, most Ukrainians believe that the explosion could be triggered by “very rudimentary remote control” and not because the Russians wanted to set it off on purpose, especially since that would also represent “a problem for them and a serious problem for their territory”.
“Most of the people we spoke to don’t think the Russians really want to blow it up. They’re just using psychological blackmail and using it in a military way. The part that can trigger this reaction and then it’s hard to stop.” that,” she clarifies.
As he has learned, the Russian troops have left the center, as well as the Ukrainian officials who worked there, who have been fired in recent days.
“The people essential for the normal functioning of the center will have been reduced to a minimum and some troops will have been mobilized to another place where the battlefront is more active,” he qualifies.
In the event of a nuclear catastrophe, the city of Nikopol would be the most affected, but the population has remained “calm”.
“They say that they have provisions at home, that they know about the precautions and, if an accident really happens, they stay at home closed for 15 days. They have some idea of what could happen, but what is a fact is that at least between 130,000 and 160,000 people still walk inside the city and the city has an access road to exit that is a bridge and, therefore, It seems to me like a plan that could result in total chaos if an accident really happens,” the journalist advances.
Source: TSF
