Zelenskyy accuses Russia of planning attacks on nuclear facilities

ISTANBUL

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday accused Russia of planning attacks on nuclear energy facilities in his country.

“Recently I received yet another alarming report from our intelligence. Now (Russian President Vladimir) Putin seems to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and their infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid,” Zelenskyy said addressing the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Zelenskyy further accused Russia of using satellites from other countries to collect detailed information, saying that any critical incident, including drone and missile strikes, on Ukraine’s energy system could lead to a “nuclear disaster.”

“A day like that must never come, and Moscow needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor (Russia),” Zelenskyy told the General Assembly.

"War always poses a threat to many. And if, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders," he added.

He also said that Russia has destroyed all of Ukraine's thermal power plants and a "large part" of the country's hydroelectric capacity.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy claimed during a UN Security Council address that Russia is preparing to target three of its nuclear power plants.

On the same day, Zelenskyy also accused Moscow of using Chinese satellites to photograph Ukraine’s nuclear energy facilities.

Neither Russian nor Chinese authorities have yet commented on Zelenskyy’s claims.

'Half-hearted peace proposals'

Zelenskyy also touched on some peace proposals, which he defined as "half-hearted," for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Expressing that such proposals not only ignore the "interests and suffering of Ukrainians" and "reality," Zelenskyy said they also give Putin the "political space to continue the war and pressure the world to bring more nations under control."

"Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," Zelenskyy said, reminding that his peace formula, which he laid out at the 2022 G20 summit in Indonesia, has existed for two years.

"Maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography for frozen truce instead of real peace," Zelenskyy argued, saying that they must not allow the emergence of a second or third stage of the ongoing conflict.

Zelenskyy questioned the "true interest" of countries bringing up such proposals, particularly referring to the proposal of Brazil and China.

"Everyone must understand, you will not boost your power at Ukraine’s expense," Zelenskyy further said.

Zelenskyy said he met with leaders from many UN countries during his visit to New York, who share the idea that peace is needed.

He added, however, that resolving "matters of war and peace" are impossible at the UN due to the right to veto.

"When the aggressor (Russia) exercises veto power, the UN is powerless to stop the war. But the peace formula can," he said.