PARIS (Reuters) – France’s European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said the European Union must stand firm as Russian attacks in Ukraine intensify, adding it was too early to assess the consequences of a fire that broke out near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
“One can see the attacks intensify, which is extremely worrying and serious,” Beaune told reporters as he arrived at a meeting of EU European Affairs Ministers in Arles, southern France.
A fire that broke out in a training building near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces had been extinguished, Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Friday.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said there was no indication of elevated radiation levels at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which provides more than a fifth of total electricity generated in Ukraine.
Earlier, a video feed from the plant verified by Reuters showed shelling and smoke rising near a five-storey building at the plant compound.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
