UN secretary general calls for urgent withdrawal of Russian forces and equipment from Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine’s military intelligence has warned that Russian forces are preparing to stage a “provocation” at a nuclear power plant they control, as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for an urgent withdrawal of military forces and equipment from the site. Guterres, on his second visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, joined the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for meetings and then a press conference in the western city of Lviv. “We are worried. We don’t want another Chernobyl,” Erdoğan said. Zelenskiy said he agreed with Guterres on a framework for a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe. It was taken over by Russian forces in March but is still being run by Ukrainians. The UN chief called on Russian forces to leave with their military equipment, amid fears that fighting around the site could lead to a deadly disaster. Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations of shelling the site. “The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, agreement is urgently needed to re-establish Zaporizhzhia’s purely civilian infrastructure and to ensure the safety of the area,” Guterres said. (…) Russia said it may shut down the plant, claiming backup support systems had been damaged in strikes. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radioactive, chemical and biological defence force, said if there was an accident at the site, radioactive material would cover Poland, Germany and Slovenia. Ukraine’s hydrometeorological institute also warned of contamination spreading across Europe, a BBC journalist reported.
via guardian: Russia to stage ‘provocation’ at nuclear plant, warns Ukrainian military