The President of Ukraine has said that Russian troops are holding the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant “hostage” and its safety cannot be guaranteed until they leave.

“Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and Russian personnel from the station and adjacent territories, any initiative aimed at restoring nuclear security is doomed to failure,” Zelensky said. “The capture of a nuclear power plant for more than a year is by far the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of European or global nuclear energy,” the country’s president said in his late-night video message.

Zaporozhye is one of four regions that Russia announced it would annex in September following referendums that were criticized around the world as “rigged.” Russia considers the plant to be its own territory, Ukraine denies this.

According to the Ukrainian president, Zelensky yesterday went to the headquarters of the operational group of troops in the Zaporozhye region. There he took part in a meeting with military officials of the district, the same source said.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi yesterday met with the President of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region and discussed the situation at the nuclear power plant occupied by the Russian military.

The IAEA chief is pushing for a security zone around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, with six reactors, which has been repeatedly targeted by warring parties since war broke out in Ukraine in February when the Russian army invaded it. 24, 2022.

Ukraine: 18 Leopards that Berlin promised to send have arrived

The 18 Leopard 2 tanks that Germany has pledged to deliver have arrived in Ukraine, a German intelligence source said, confirming the Spiegel report.

In January, Germany agreed to provide these tanks. In addition to 18 Leopards, 40 German Marder armored fighting vehicles have already arrived in Ukraine.

The German military spent several weeks training Ukrainian crews to fly the Marder in camps in Münster and Bergen in northern Germany.

In addition to the German Leopards, three Leopards have already arrived in Ukraine, donated to Kyiv by Portugal.

Source: Reuters, APE-MPE.