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US supports idea of creating demilitarized zone around Zaporozhye NPP — State Department

"We continue to call on Russia to cease all military operations at or near Ukrainian nuclear facilities and return full control to Ukraine, and support Ukrainian calls for a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant," the official said

WASHINGTON, August 11. /TASS/. US authorities uphold the idea of creating a demilitarized zone around the Zaporozhye NPP, Reuters reported on Thursday citing a representative of the United States Department of State.

"Fighting near a nuclear plant is dangerous and irresponsible - and we continue to call on Russia to cease all military operations at or near Ukrainian nuclear facilities and return full control to Ukraine, and support Ukrainian calls for a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant," the official said.

Earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged to establish a safe perimeter around the Zaporozhye NPP. He stressed that "the facility must not be used as part of any military operation." According to Guterres, "instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarization to ensure the safety of the area."

As earlier reported, on Thursday, Ukraine’s armed forces conducted a massive shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP and the city of Energodar for the second time in one day. Previously, Russian air defense systems deflected all Ukrainian attacks with strike drones and heavy artillery on the city and the NPP overnight and on Thursday morning.

Since early August, the Ukrainian army attempted to strike the NPP’s premises and the city at least five times. On August 5, the Ukrainian armed forces shelled a railway station three times, on August 6, they bombarded the NPP’s healthcare facility and a water supply facility in Energodar, and on August 7, another strike on the NPP hit the area where a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel was located.

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