Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant under attack from Russian troops

Firefighters are struggling to reach the power plant because they face “heavy weapons fire” from Russian troops, with Ukraine’s foreign minister warning: “If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl.”

There has been no release of radioactive material at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant which has been shelled by Russian forces in Ukraine, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog has said.

The attack on the southeastern city of Energodar and its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unfolded as the invasion entered its second week. A video on the plant’s YouTube channel appears to show large explosions at the power station.

Local politicians initially said that firefighters were unable to get close to the scene because they were being shot at – but a team of 40 people and 10 units have now extinguished the blaze which was at a training building.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the fire has not affected essential equipment or caused radiation levels to change, while US officials have also stressed reactors at Zaporizhzhia power station are protected by robust containment measures, and are now being safely shut down.

In an update, IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi said: “All the safety systems of the six reactors at the plant were not affected at all and there has been no releases of radioactive material.”

He said two security personnel were injured in the blast and the IEA would continue to be in contact with officials at the site, where just one reactor “is operating at 60% of it’s capacity” as normal.

Ukrainian officials had said there was a “real threat of nuclear danger”, with foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba warning: “If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl.”