Vladimir Putin is planning to attack Ukraine’s nuclear power plants in a move that would lead to “disaster” for countries throughout the region, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed.
The Ukrainian president told the United Nations General Assembly that his intelligence agencies had uncovered his Russian counterpart’s deadly intentions.
He said the revelation was further proof of the need for the international community to continue to put pressure on Putin to end the war.
Zelenskyy said: “Recently I received another alarming report from our intelligence. Now Putin does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and their infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid.
“With the help of satellites, by the way, of other countries, Russia is getting images and detailed information about the infrastructure of our nuclear power plants.
“But what does this really threaten? Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system, could lead to a nuclear disaster. A day like that must never come.
“Moscow needs to understand this and this depends, in part, on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor. These are nuclear power plants. They must be safe.”
He added: “If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, the radiation will not respect state borders, and unfortunately various nations could feel the devastating effects.”
Zelenskyy was speaking after foreign secretary David Lammy accused Putin of acting like a mafia boss over his invasion of Ukraine.