The loss of connection with monitoring data on the radiation situation at Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) means that Ukraine has no information about the level of radiation in the exclusion zone, many unexploded mines have been recorded near Zaporizhia NPP, which poses a threat of a nuclear disaster, Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko has said.

"The connection with the monitoring data has been lost, which means that we don't know what the situation is there, what the level of radiation is," Haluschenko said on UA telethon on Wednesday afternoon, adding that Chornobyl NPP still has the shift that was on the day of its capture by Russian invaders on February 24.

"They are holding on," the minister said.

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that the situation at Zaporizhia NPP also remains extremely tense, since, according to him, there are still a lot of military personnel at the plant, heavy equipment is constantly at the plant and, of course, the most difficult conditions, but "people are holding on."

"A lot of work is being done to eliminate the damage caused during the barbaric shelling of the plant. Today, there are still a lot of unexploded mines there. Imagine what mines are near a nuclear unit," the minister said.

Given this situation, Haluschenko once again emphasized the urgent need to close the sky over Ukraine to avoid a pan-European nuclear disaster.

"You can turn a blind eye to something, but if today we do not control and do not understand what is happening at these objects, then obviously the issue of closing the sky is not just like that. We are asking you to do this," the minister of energy said.