Ukraine calls for sanctions on Russian nuclear industry over nuke plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the West to impose sanctions against Russia’s nuclear industry in the wake of the fighting over the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

Russia is using the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to frighten people and to blackmail the Ukrainian leadership and the whole world, Zelensky said in a video address broadcast on Saturday evening.

Russia, a nuclear power in terms of weaponry, is “building nuclear power plants in several countries”, dpa news agency reported.

Kiev and Moscow have been accusing each other for days of being responsible for the shelling of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Zelensky has accused Russian troops of using the Russian-occupied site as a fortress from which to fire on the small towns of Nikopol and Marhanez, which lie on the other bank of the Dnipro reservoir.

He warned that the deployment of Russian troops on the site of the nuclear power plant “increases the radioactive threat to Europe to a level that did not exist even at the most difficult moments of confrontation in the times of the Cold War”.

Zelensky called for “a tough reaction” in the video.

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine called on Western states for help to prosecute Russian war crimes committed during the invasion of the country.

Kiev needed experts on military law and specialists in investigating war crimes to punish the Russian attackers, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a lengthy statement published on Facebook on Saturday.

–IANS

int/shs

 

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor