Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu held a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday regarding safety at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Russia, which controls the plant, has accused Ukraine of shelling the facility, while Ukraine and its Western backers insist the Russians are attacking territory that they themselves hold.
Shoigu and Guterres discussed “conditions for the safe functioning of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant,” a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense read.
Located in the city of Energodar in southern Ukraine, the Zaporozhye facility is the largest nuclear plant in Europe. It has been under Russian control since the beginning of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine but has been subjected to a series of attacks in recent weeks.
Russia has accused Ukraine of launching artillery and drone strikes on the facility, denouncing the operations as “nuclear terrorism.” Kiev, however, claims that Russian forces are targeting the plant – that they control – and pinning the attacks on the Ukrainian military.