Shelling took place in the Russian-controlled town of Enerhodar near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday night, Russian and Ukrainian officials said – with each side blaming the other for the attacks. Dmytro Orlov, the Ukrainian mayor of Enerhodar, said the bombing took place in the city’s third and fifth microdistricts, about 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) from the nuclear power plant. The shelling set cars on fire and a residential building “took a direct hit,” he said. Yevhen Balytskyi, head of the Russian-backed Zaporizhzhia region’s civil-military command, said nine people were wounded in three targeted strikes on residential buildings. Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-appointed council in the occupied parts of Zaporizhia, blamed the attack on “Zelensky’s fighters”. The bombing comes just days before a team of international experts with the United Nations nuclear watchdog is expected to visit the plant to help ensure nuclear safety and security at the site. Kiev’s response: Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, condemned the attacks. “Russian terrorists bombed Enerhodar. They provoke and try to blackmail the world. They bomb Nikopol, Marganets and imitate the “response” to Enerhodar, although they are the ones who shoot,” Yermak wrote on Telegram. “Nuclear blackmail must not go unanswered.” Some context: Kyiv and Moscow have engaged in a barrage of accusations over security and military action at and around the Zaporizhzhia power plant, the largest nuclear complex in Europe. But the lack of independent access to the factory, which has been occupied by Russian forces since March, makes it impossible to verify what is happening there. Over the past month, a number of rockets and shells have landed on the factory grounds, according to satellite images analyzed by CNN. CNN is unable to verify what strikes occurred, nor who was responsible.
