Footage released by the Ukrainian military's General Staff showed a Russian missile striking within 300 metres of a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Monday, in the Mykolaiv region, prompting Kyiv to accuse Moscow of engaging in “nuclear terrorism.”
Fortunately, or perhaps as a result of a deliberate targeting decision by the Russian military, the strike did not hit any of the plant's three nuclear reactors.
The CCTV footage showed the missile strike resulting in a powerful explosion, which reportedly damaged nearby industrial equipment, at the Nuclear Power Plant near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk in Mykolaiv province, leaving a hole 2 meters deep and 4 meters (wide, according to Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom.
The operator added that even though the missiles struck within 300 meters of the plant's three nuclear reactors -- less than 1,000 feet -- the reactors suffered no damage and continued to function normally. They did however add that the facility suffered a brief power outage, as a result of one of its hydropower units and three power lines being downed.
"Acts of nuclear terrorism committed by the Russian military threaten the whole world. They should be stopped immediately to prevent a new disaster!" the Ukrainian government stated in response to the strike.
Following a serious military reversal over the last two weeks, which saw Ukrainian armored spearheads break through Russian lines on the North-eastern sector in the Kharkiv Oblast, rapidly overruning Russian positions and recapturing the entirety of the Oblast (some 8000 sq kilometres of territory), Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened last week to step up Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Throughout the war, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s electricity generation and transmission equipment, causing blackouts and endangering the safety systems of the country’s nuclear power plants. The strike near the South Ukraine plant, which is Ukraine's second-largest working nuclear station, follows months of concern over the larger Zaporizhzhia plant to the east.
