Russia, Ukraine trade claims of nuclear plant attacks

>> AT 6:13 NOW. THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY OF FACILITIES NOT FAR FROM THE UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR PLANT. SHELLS HIT WITHIN A FEW MILES OF THE PLANT RAISING FEARS THAT THE FIGHTING BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE COULD TRIGGER A CATASTROPHE. THIS IS THE GREATEST FOR THE THOSE LIVING IN A WAR-TORN NATION. AND JOINING US AMID THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, JAMES, THANKS FOR JOINING US. HOW IS THE LATEST DEVELOPMENT RECEIVED IN UKRAINE? >> HI THERE, GOOD MORNING. LOOK, IT'S JUST YET ANOTHER STRESS TO THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE AROUND THAT POWER PLANT AND THAT OF COURSE, IS NOT FAR FROM THE EVER CHANGING CONFLICT LINE. SO, THE LEVEL OF STRESS FROM PEOPLE BASED ON WHETHER IT'S THAT POWER PLANT, BASED ON THE SOURCE OF POWER THEY SO DESPERATELY NEED, OR BASED ON, YOU KNOW, JUST ON THE CONSISTENCY OF ATTACKS YESTERDAY AGAIN. A LITTLE BOY, A LITTLE GIRL, TWO CHILDREN IN THEIR HOME, AGAIN, KILLED SORT OF EVERY DAY UKRAINIANS DO WAKE TO SOME FORM OF HORROR, USUALLY QUITE FREQUENTLY AT LEAST, THE DEATH OF A CHILD. SO, ALL OF THESE THINGS AFTER SIX MONTHS HAVE AN ACCUMULATIVE EFFECT. AND A TRAUMA. WE'RE WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO FAR TO MEET FAMILIES SHOW YOU PHOTOS OF THE HOME, MISSILES THROUGH THEM, MORTARS THROUGH THEM AND THEY'RE TRYING TO REBUILD, BUT THAT'S A FISCAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HURDLE THEY HAVE TO MAKE. >> TRAGEDY AFTER SIX MONTHS OF THIS. RECENTLY TWEETED OUT A PHOTO OF A TANK AND YOU WROTE SIX MONTHS OF THIS. MAKE IT STOP. IS THERE A FEELING AT THAT THERE IS AN END IN SIGHT? >> IT'S SO DIFFICULT TO CRYSTAL BALL THIS. I TALK TO EXPERTS ALL THE TIME AND THE BEST BRAINS DO SEEM TO GET IT WRONG ONE DAY AND RIGHT THE NEXT, IT'S CHANGING SO QUICKLY, I DON'T THINK THAT ANYONE WILL KNOW, THAT IMAGE WAS MY OWN EXASPERATION PROBABLY ON BACK OF BEING AT A HOSPITAL WITH A LITTLE BOY THAT HAD BEEN HIT BY A CLUSTER BOMB. THE BEST I CAN DO IS CONSTANTLY SPEAK WITH UKRAINIANS AND GET A SENSE FROM THERE AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S AN OPTIMISM, THEY DON'T SEE REASON FOR OPTIMISM. THEY SEE NEWS LIKE YOU SAW THERE, ALL THEY SEE IS CONSISTENT ATTACKS. I SPENT TIME WITH FATHERS, IT - DIFFERENT APPROACH, A HEAP OF - INSPIRING DADS, YOU KNOW, A COUNSELOR, A YOGA TEACHER, A MECHANIC, ALL VERY UKRAINIAN IN THEIR KIND OF, YOU KNOW, MANLINESS OR BLOKINESS, AS WE'D SAY IN AUSTRALIA. AND HAVEN'T SEN THEIR KIDS IN SIX MONTHS AND THEY FEEL LIKE THEY ONLY STAYED A WEEK HERE IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH, LEFT TOO LATE BECAUSE THEIR CHILDREN SAW TOO MUCH. THEY WATCH OUT FOR THEM EVERY DAY, BUT ANY DAD WILL TELL YOU WHEN HE'S AWAY FROM HIS CHILDREN, WHATSAPP IS GREAT, BUT NOT THE SAME AS A HUG. AND THE MOMS AND CHILDREN DISPLACED OR DADS DESPERATE TO SEE THEIR CHILDREN, THOSE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR GLASS HALF FULL, BUT I SENSE FOR THEM PERSEVERANCE, BUT NOT AN OPTIMISM. JENNIFER: I CAN'T IMAGINE THE LEVEL OF STRESS. WELL, UNICEF HAS BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN HELPING PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN TORN APART BY THIS. CAN YOU TELL US HOW YOU'RE STILL HELPING PEOPLE? >> AFTER SIX MONTHS IT'S A HERCULEAN EFFORT AND ALWAYS SAY IT'S ON THE BACK OF INCREDIBLE UKRAINIAN SUPPORT AND SYSTEMS, BUT FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS WE'VE NOW REACHED, I THINK, FOUR MILLION PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL SUPPLIES, MILLIONS MORE WITH WATER. HALF A MILLION WITH CASH, I MEAN, THIS IS CRITICAL BECAUSE FAMILIES, BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN BLOWN UP LITERALLY, FIGURATIVELY AND CASH IS A FORCE FOR PEOPLE TO REDUCE THAT STRESS AND NEXT WEEK HOPE TO GET KIDS BACK IN SCHOOL OR AT LEAST ONLINE. IT'S A HUGE AMOUNT OF SUPPORT, TO BE HONEST IT ON THE BACK OF VIEWERS WHO ARE TUNING INTO THE SHOW RIGHT NOW. THERE'S NO MAGIC MONEY SO I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT LEVEL OF SUPPORT. WE NEED CEASE FIRES AND ACCESS AND HUMANITARIAN AND ADULTS MAKE RECKLESS DECISIONS WE'LL KEEP TRYING TO KEEP REACHING THOSE CHILDREN IN NEED. RHONDELLA: OK, IT'S BEEN HELPFUL TO HAVE YOUR INSIGHTS FROM KYIV THIS MORNING. JAMES ELDER FROM UNICEF. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING AND STAY SAFE. >> THANK YOU.

Video above: UNICEF rep describes concerns in Ukraine after cities near nuclear plant shelledRussia and Ukraine traded claims of rocket and artillery strikes at or near Europe's largest nuclear power plant on Sunday, intensifying fears that the fighting could damage the facility and cause a massive radiation leak.Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide Dnieper River. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each about six miles from the facility.Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had shelled the plant twice over the past day and that some shells fell near buildings storing reactor fuel and radioactive waste."One projectile fell in the area of the sixth power unit, and the other five in front of the sixth unit pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor," Konashenkov said, adding that radiation levels were normal.Heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Rocket strikes damaged about a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000.The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 25 miles up the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, also came under Russian fire during the night, damaging dozens of apartment buildings and homes and wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said. Russian forces struck a Zaporizhzhia repair shop for Ukrainian air force helicopters, Konashenkov said.The claims from both sides couldn't be independently verified.Downriver from the nuclear plant, Ukrainian rockets hit the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant and adjacent city three times on Sunday, said Vladimir Leontyev, the head of the Russia-installed local administration.The plant's dam is a major roadway across the river and a potentially key Russian supply route. The dam forms a reservoir that provides water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.In eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, shelling hit the large and strategically significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, with no casualties reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region governor. Konashenkov said Russian missile strikes killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and reservists in and near Sloviansk. Ukrainian officials didn't comment on the claim, in keeping with their policy of not discussing losses.Video above: Russian shelling nearly causes nuclear disaster in Ukraine, Zelenskyy respondsSloviansk resident Kostiantyn Daineko told The Associated Press that he was falling asleep when an explosion blew out his apartment windows."I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying over me, the frame and pieces of broken glass," he said.Russian and separatist forces hold much of the Donetsk region, one of two Russia has recognized as sovereign states.Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure.Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant's nuclear reactors. The systems require electricity, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown.Periodic shelling has damaged the power station's infrastructure, Ukraine's nuclear power operator, Energoatom, said Saturday."There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high," it said.The U.N.'s atomic energy agency has tried to work out an agreement with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to send a team to inspect and secure the plant, but it remained unclear when the visit might take place.

Video above: UNICEF rep describes concerns in Ukraine after cities near nuclear plant shelled

Russia and Ukraine traded claims of rocket and artillery strikes at or near Europe's largest nuclear power plant on Sunday, intensifying fears that the fighting could damage the facility and cause a massive radiation leak.

Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide Dnieper River. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each about six miles from the facility.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had shelled the plant twice over the past day and that some shells fell near buildings storing reactor fuel and radioactive waste.

"One projectile fell in the area of the sixth power unit, and the other five in front of the sixth unit pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor," Konashenkov said, adding that radiation levels were normal.

Heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Rocket strikes damaged about a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000.

The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 25 miles up the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, also came under Russian fire during the night, damaging dozens of apartment buildings and homes and wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said. Russian forces struck a Zaporizhzhia repair shop for Ukrainian air force helicopters, Konashenkov said.

The claims from both sides couldn't be independently verified.

Downriver from the nuclear plant, Ukrainian rockets hit the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant and adjacent city three times on Sunday, said Vladimir Leontyev, the head of the Russia-installed local administration.

The plant's dam is a major roadway across the river and a potentially key Russian supply route. The dam forms a reservoir that provides water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

In eastern Ukraine, where Russian and separatist forces are trying to take control, shelling hit the large and strategically significant cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, with no casualties reported, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Donetsk region governor. Konashenkov said Russian missile strikes killed 250 Ukrainian soldiers and reservists in and near Sloviansk. Ukrainian officials didn't comment on the claim, in keeping with their policy of not discussing losses.

Video above: Russian shelling nearly causes nuclear disaster in Ukraine, Zelenskyy responds

Sloviansk resident Kostiantyn Daineko told The Associated Press that he was falling asleep when an explosion blew out his apartment windows.

"I opened my eyes and saw how the window frame was flying over me, the frame and pieces of broken glass," he said.

Russian and separatist forces hold much of the Donetsk region, one of two Russia has recognized as sovereign states.

Authorities last week began distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia plant in case of radiation exposure.

Much of the concern centers on the cooling systems for the plant's nuclear reactors. The systems require electricity, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown.

Periodic shelling has damaged the power station's infrastructure, Ukraine's nuclear power operator, Energoatom, said Saturday.

"There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high," it said.

The U.N.'s atomic energy agency has tried to work out an agreement with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to send a team to inspect and secure the plant, but it remained unclear when the visit might take place.

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