Russian security service FSB arrests eight suspects for attack on Crimean bridge

Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant back on emergency power, Russia blocks new diesel deliveries

The Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region has been disconnected from the grid for the second time in five days. The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday on Twitter. Diesel generators now keep the plant running, but this emergency solution also now seems to be in danger. The Russians will stop new diesel deliveries on Wednesday, claims the Ukrainian state energy company Energoatom.

Grossi speaks of a “very worrying development”. He is strongly in favor of establishing a demilitarized security zone around the nuclear power plant, where large quantities of nuclear fuel and radioactive waste are stored. According to the Russians, such a zone is unthinkable in the current situation, because the plant is too close to the front line. That said the Russian leadership of the illegally annexed Zaporizhzhya province against the Russian news agency Ria Novosti on Wednesday.

Internationally, there are major safety concerns at the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which is occupied by the Russians but manned by Ukrainians. The energy production of the power station in Enerhodar has now come to a standstill, after the sixth and last working reactor came to a standstill last month. Buildings where nuclear fuel is stored have been hit by constant shelling and personnel is under high pressure, partly because Russia regularly kidnaps employees.

A Russian soldier stands guard at the nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region. Photo Aleksandr Yermochenko/Reuters

Russian security service FSB arrests eight suspects for attack on Crimean bridge

The Russian internal security service FSB has arrested five Russians, two Ukrainians and an Armenian for the attack on the Crimean Bridge. The Russian news agency Ria Novosti . has announced on Wednesday. According to the FSB, the attack is the work of the Intelligence Director of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, although the service has not provided any evidence. The truck with explosives is said to have driven from Ukraine to the Crimean Bridge via Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia.

According to the Ukrainians, the conclusions of the FSB are not true. “All the work of the FSB and the investigative committee is nonsense,” the spokesman for the Ukrainian interior minister said on national television. Due to the explosion, the Krimbrug is only partially passable for car and train traffic. In recent days, Russia has carried out dozens of rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities across the country in revenge. This explicitly focused on critical civil infrastructure, such as energy supplies.

Flames and smoke from the Krimbrug, after a large explosion early Saturday morning. Photo AP



ttn-32