President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking about the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (NPP), said that Russia had put Ukraine and the Europeans one step away from a radiation catastrophe.

“Today, for the first time in history, the Zaporizhia 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,” Zelensky said in a video address.

“Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster,” he noted, adding that the temporarily occupied areas of southern Ukraine are already in a state of humanitarian catastrophe, which Russia brought there with a full-scale invasion.

In particular, the cutoff of electricity, water and sewerage.

At the same time, the head of state assured that the Ukrainian authorities 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 Zaporizhia 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,” the president said.

Zelensky also said that he discussed the situation at the NPP with U.S. President Joseph Biden today.

“I am grateful to him for understanding and fully supporting the need to return the plant under the Ukrainian control and provide for the IAEA access immediately. This can be done in a matter of days, before the occupiers bring the situation to an irreversible point. And it's easier to do it now than later, if the wind starts blowing radiation pollution across Europe,” the president said.