The fire, causing thick black smoke to billow out of one of the power plant's cooling towers, has since been put out, according to Ukrainian authorities.
ADVERTISEMENTThe fire that broke out at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday night was a provocation by Moscow's forces, Ukrainian authorities said.
According to Yevhen Yevtushenko, head of the military administration of Nikopol — across the river from occupied Enerhodar where the plant is located — Russian forces set fire to automobile tyres in the cooling towers to make it appear as though the power plant was on fire.
“Perhaps this is a provocation or an attempt to create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir,” Yevtushenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said Russia was using the plant to blackmail Kyiv and play on Western fears of escalation.
Russia, on the other hand, blamed the fire on shelling by Ukrainian forces, although no evidence has been provided. The claims could not be independently confirmed.
The fire has since been put out, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said on Monday morning.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the fire had not affected nuclear safety.
He added that any military action against the plant violates the five concrete principles for protecting the facility, which were established at the United Nations Security Council in May last year.
“These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” Grossi said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been occupied by Moscow's forces since the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, now in its third year.