President Zelensky Strictly Warns Russian Soldiers: Shoot Nuclear Power Plants, Becomes Our Special Intelligence Target

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russian troops that they will become special targets for Kyiv forces if they fire on European nuclear power plants in the country.

President Zelensky reiterated that he considered Russia's use of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was run by Ukraine but was seized at the start of 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 said.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant dominates the southern bank of a large reservoir on the Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces controlling towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under heavy bombardment from the Russian-controlled side.

Meanwhile, adviser to Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podolyak accused Russia of "hitting part of a nuclear power plant, where the energy that powers Ukraine's south is generated".

"The aim is to disconnect us from (the nuclear power plant) and blame the Ukrainian army for this," Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

The foreman who worked at the nuclear power plant was killed Sunday by Russian gunfire while walking his dog near his home in the town of Enerhodar, the Ukrainian-owned nuclear company Energoatom said.

Instead, Russian-appointed local official Vladimir Rogov wrote on Telegram that Ukrainian troops had opened fire on the city and were responsible for the man's death.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for the creation of a demilitarized zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, amid fears of a nuclear catastrophe over a new shelling in recent days, which Russia and Ukraine blamed each other.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which seeks to inspect the plant, has warned of a nuclear disaster unless fighting stops. Nuclear experts fear the fighting could damage the fuel pools of former factories or reactors.