Kyiv (Times Of Ocean)- The Ukrainian government has asked the United Nations to demilitarize the exclusion zone around Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP), according to Ukrinform, the state-run news agency.
“We demand that the UN Security Council take immediate measures to demilitarize the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP and establish a special UN mission to eliminate the risk of recurrence of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk was quoted by the news agency as saying.
There is currently a risk of destroying the confinement structures built over Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant No. 4, according to Vereshchuk. The reason is that there is a large amount of ammunition in the area, in addition to hostilities.
According to Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova, forest fires have spread over 10,000 hectares around the Chernobyl NPP due to hostilities.
Denisova noted that Ukrainian firefighters are unable to reach the area, which is controlled by Russian forces.
Chernobyl nuclear plant, located about 110 km north of Kiev, suffered one of the worst nuclear accidents in history on April 26, 1986.
According to Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Russian troops seized the plant on Feb 24. United Nations