. . . World leaders condemn attack

Following night-long clashes near the city of Zaporizhzhya in southeastern Ukraine, Russia took control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Ukrainian authorities announced on Friday.

“Currently, the site of the Zaporizhzhia NPP is occupied by the military forces of the Russian Federation,” said a statement by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate.

It stressed that there had been no changes in radiation level, which increased after a fire broke out due to Russian shelling.

Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that attacks by Russian troops on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant must be stopped and that if an explosion occurred, “it would be the end of Europe.”

World leaders have accused Russia of endangering the safety of an entire continent after its forces shelled the nuclear power station.

UK Prime Minister Boris Jonson said the “reckless” attack could “directly threaten the safety of all of Europe”.

US President Joe Biden urged Moscow to stop its military activities around the site, while Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the “horrific attacks” from Russia “must cease immediately”. All three leaders spoke to Ukraine’s President Zelensky by phone.

Mr Zelensky, meanwhile, accused Russia of resorting to “nuclear terror” and wanting to repeat the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

“If there is an explosion, it is the end of everything. The end of Europe,” he said.

A video feed from the nuclear plant showed blasts lighting up the night sky and sending up plumes of smoke.

Workers at the plant said the fire – which has since been extinguished – broke out at a training building outside the plant's perimeter, and that only one of the plant’s six reactors were operational.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the fire had not affected the plant’s “essential” equipment and there was no increase in radiation levels.

But the IAEA said it was in “full 24/7 response mode” due to the “serious situation” at the power station.

Ukrainian emergency services said initially they were blocked from getting to the scene of the blaze, prompting President Biden to publicly call on Russia to allow firefighters into the site.

Boris Johnson said he would seek an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday over the attack.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

More than a million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency. (Adapted from reports by Anadolu Agency and BBC)

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