Head of a Russian state company atomic EnergyRosatom warned today that there is a risk of a nuclear accident at its plant Zaporozhyeher senior Europeafter the new explosions that occurred over the weekend.

Moscow and Kyiv have been trading accusations of shelling the facility for months after Russian forces took control of the station in March, shortly after invading Ukraine. Yesterday, Sunday, there were new explosions, which raised new fears of a potential catastrophe at the facilities.

“The station is in danger of a nuclear accident. We have been negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency all night,” Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhatsov said, Interfax reports.

Likhachev: Kyiv is ready to “reconcile” with a small accident

Rosatom controls the station through a subsidiary after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia in October to formally take over the station and hand over its Ukrainian staff to a Russian enterprise. In Kyiv, they say that the transfer of assets is tantamount to theft.

The IAEA has called for a security zone around the plant, which Likhachev said would only be possible if approved by the United States.

“I think the long distance between Washington and Zaporozhye should not be an argument for the United States to delay the decision on the security zone,” he said, according to Interfax.

The head of Rosatom also said that it looks like Kyiv is ready to “allow” a “small nuclear accident” at the nuclear power plant.

“This will be a precedent that will forever change the course of history. Therefore, everything possible must be done so that no one has any thoughts of violating the safety of the nuclear power plant,” he said, TASS reports.

Zelensky: asks for guarantees of protection from NATO

In addition, the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky today asked NATO member countries to guarantee the protection of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities from Russian sabotage.

“It is in the interests of all countries that there are no dangerous incidents at our nuclear facilities,” he said. Zelensky via video at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid.

“We all need guaranteed protection against Russian sabotage of nuclear facilities,” he added.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}