MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. Russia expects that Western countries will use their influence on the Ukrainian authorities to end shelling attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
"We expect that the countries who have absolute influence on the Ukrainian leadership will use their influence to make sure that such attacks no longer take place," he pointed out.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that the Ukrainian armed forces’ shelling of the NPP is potentially highly dangerous, it’s an extremely dangerous activity as it may lead to devastating consequences for vast territories, for the entire Europe."
According to member of the main council of the Zaporozhye Region’s Military-Civilian Administration Vladimir Rogov, the Ukrainian military shelled the Zaporozhye NPP area three times on Friday, causing a fire and damaging two power lines necessary for the operation of the facility’s power units. On Monday, Head of the regional Military-Civilian Administration Yevgeny Balitsky said that the Zaporozhye NPP continued to operate normally following a shelling attack by the Ukrainian army.
The Zaporozhye NPP, the largest in Europe, is located on the shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir in the city of Energodar, Zaporozhye Region, which is controlled by allied forces. The NPP has six 1000-megawatt VVER-1000 reactors with a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts. The power plant generates about 40 bln kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which accounts for 20% of Ukraine’s electricity production. Four nuclear power plants currently operate in Ukraine.