President Zelensky: The World Loses To Terrorism If It Can't Take Decisive Action Around The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

JAKARTA - The world will lose to terrorism and succumb to nuclear blackmail if it does not take action to prevent an accident at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday.

"If now the world does not show strength and determination to defend a nuclear power plant, it means the world has lost," Zelenskiy said in his evening video message.

"It will lose to terrorism. And succumb to nuclear blackmail."

Russia took over the station, Europe's largest nuclear facility, soon after it invaded Ukraine in February in what Moscow called a "special military operation."

Earlier, Zelensky had sternly warned Russian troops that they would become a special target for Kyiv forces if they fired at Europe's largest nuclear power plant in the country.

President Zelensky considered Russia's use of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which was run, by Ukraine but captured early in the war, as a threat.

"Any Russian soldier who fires at the generator, shoots with the generator as cover, must understand that he is a special target for our intelligence agencies, our special services, our soldiers," he stressed.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for military activities around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine to be stopped.

He urged the withdrawal of military personnel and equipment and that no more troops or equipment be deployed. He called on Russia and Ukraine not to target the plant or the surrounding area.

"The facility should not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at the technical level on safe demilitarization boundaries to ensure the security of the area," Guterres explained.