By Bond Robertson 
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- A fire broke out at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces.
- President Zelensky claims the Russians started the fire, while the Russians blame Ukraine.
- Radiation levels should be normal.
- Fire crews are working to extinguish the fire.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces set a fire at the nuclear power plant in occupied Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine.
In X, the president wrote that radiation levels are currently within the normal range. He shared a video on the service of what is supposed to show flames at the nuclear power plant.
– But as long as Russian terrorists control the nuclear power plant, the situation is not normal, Zelensky wrote.
Just before 21:30, the Russian administration confirmed that there was a fire at the power plant. Reuters reports.
They claim the fire did not affect safety at the facility. Fire crews are working to put out the flames.
At 22:00, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that its experts observed thick, black smoke rising from the area.
They also reportedly heard several explosions near the nuclear power plant earlier on Sunday evening.
Zelensky breaks silence
– The power plant informed the team of an alleged drone attack today on one of the plant's cooling towers. No impact on nuclear safety has been reported, the IAEA wrote in X.
blaming each other
The cause of the fire is currently unclear.
A local official in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol claimed, according to Reuters, that Russian forces set fire to several car tires in one of the cooling towers of the power plant.
He urges residents to remain calm.
Occupied: This picture shows the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in 2023. File photo: AFP / NTB
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According to Reuters, one should see smoke coming from Nikopol.
Meanwhile, the Russian management of the power plant accuses Ukraine of being behind the fire. They claim that Ukrainian forces set the facility on fire by firing on the nearby town of Enrhdar.
– Waiting
In his post on X, Zelensky wrote that Russia used the nuclear power plant to blackmail Ukraine, Europe and the rest of the world.
– We are waiting for the world's reaction. We are waiting for the IAEA's response. Russia must bear responsibility for this, the president said.
Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant can ensure a return to normal life and complete security.
– Deterrent measure
Tormod Heyer of the Norwegian Defence Academy says: TV 2 And it is “violent” if it is true that the Russians set fire to the facility.
– If it was Russia, it was a very brutal and forceful response to the Ukrainian attack, which was seen as humiliating to Putin and the Kremlin, since they crossed the Russian border, he says.
It is believed that this may indicate that the Kremlin is in a state of desperation, and that the situation will reach the news all over the world.
“It is partly a deterrent to retaliation and partly a deterrent to future Ukrainian advances,” he tells the channel.