MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. The Kiev regime’s bombardments of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) are acts of nuclear terrorism and may trigger a catastrophe that will substantially surpass the Chernobyl nuclear disaster by its scope, Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Ivan Nechaev said on Thursday.

"In recent days, the Ukrainian military has shelled the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP several times, which are acts of nuclear terrorism. These acts by the Kiev regime may lead to a catastrophe that will considerably surpass the Chernobyl NPP disaster by its scope," the diplomat pointed out.

"The radiation contamination area may spread not only to the nearby regions of Ukraine, Russia, the DPR and the LPR [the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics] but also to the territory of European countries endangering millions of human lives," Nechaev emphasized.

On August 11, the UN Security Council will hold a meeting on this issue at Russia’s initiative, the diplomat pointed out.

"We expect that the international community and specialized international agencies will pay due attention to the unfolding catastrophic situation. We favor sending a mission of the IAEA [the International Atomic Energy Agency] to the Zaporozhye NPP that was disrupted in June as a result of a decision by the UN Secretariat’s Department of Safety and Security," he said.

The Zaporozhye NPP is the largest in Europe. It consists of six power units and has a capacity of about 6,000 MW. It used to generate a quarter of all electric power in Ukraine.

Currently, the NPP operates at 70% capacity as the area of the Zaporozhye Region liberated from the Ukrainian army has a surplus of electricity power.