Russia has sparked a “mad panic” as it evacuates a town near the contested Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a Ukrainian official says.
Russia has told people to leave 18 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, including Enerhodar near the plant, ahead of Kyiv’s anticipated offensive.
The Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said there were five-hour waits as thousands of cars left.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog warned a “severe nuclear accident” could occur.
Rafael Grossi – the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – said the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant was “becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous”.
The IAEA statement said that “while operating staff remain at the site” there was “deep concern about the increasingly tense, stressful, and challenging conditions for personnel and their families”.
It said IAEA experts at the plant had “received information that the announced evacuation of residents from the nearby town of Enerhodar – where most plant staff live – has started”.
On Friday, the Russian-installed regional head Yevgeny Balitsky said that “in the past few days, the enemy has stepped up shelling of settlements close to the front line”.
“I have therefore made a decision to evacuate first of all children and parents, elderly people, disabled people and hospital patients,” he wrote on social media. .
The IAEA has issued warnings previously about safety at the plant – which Russia captured in the opening days of its invasion last year – after shelling caused temporary power cuts.
In March the IAEA warned the plant was running on diesel generators to keep vital cooling systems going, after damage to power lines.
Since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022 the number of staff at the plant has declined, the IAEA says, “but site management has stated that it has remained sufficient for the safe operation of the plant”.
Russian forces occupy much of the Zaporizhzhia region but not the regional capital Zaporizhzhia, which lies just northeast of Enerhodar across the Dnipro reservoir.
