Russia is deliberately blackmailing the world with a nuclear catastrophe, Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the President's Office head, said.

"Russia is deliberately blackmailing the world with a nuclear catastrophe. Never before has a single state tried to blackmail the massacre under a nuclear power plant while conducting military operations. Any shot from a tank, any missile or air bomb hitting the plant can lead to a monstrous catastrophe," Podoliak said in a commentary handed over to Interfax-Ukraine.

He added that all night long Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in touch with the leaders of the partner countries.

"Everyone, absolutely everyone supported Ukraine and are shocked by Russia's actions. We call on the world to immediately increase sanctions against Russia. If a state blackmails the world with a nuclear catastrophe, it should bear the maximum responsibility," he said.

According to Podoliak, Russia is fighting in deliberate violation of all conventions, laws and rules of war, trying to cause maximum damage to Ukrainian critical infrastructure, civilian infrastructure and people in order to cause maximum panic.

"The Russian command could not help but know what threatens Ukraine and, frankly, whole Europe, a large-scale tank attack directed against Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The largest, by the way, nuclear power plant in Europe. The consequences, the risks, the volume of destruction – everything was thought out by the Russians in advance. That is, literally every Russian military involved in this attack perfectly understood all the possible consequences," he said, adding that "Western partners need to take this into account when trying to understand the motives of the Russians in Ukraine."