In Ukraine nuclear plant fire, blinding flashes and blaze; President Zelensky shares clip

In another video message, Volodymyr Zelensky called for international help and slammed Russia. “No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units,” he said.

“This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind. The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror,” he added.

He also accused Moscow of trying to "repeat" the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and said he had spoken to US President Joe Biden about the blaze at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

The now defunct Chernobyl plant, about 100km north of capital Kyiv, is already under Russian control. After its meltdown in 1986, the Chernobyl plant had spewed deadly radiation all over Europe.

The UK too was quick to condemn Russia’s actions with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ‘reckless actions’ could threaten the ‘safety of all of Europe’. Johnson has also called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

The blaze at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant occurred at a training building and was put out at 6.20 am local time. After a few hours of uncertainty and concern, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the plant was secured.

Zaporizhzhia, an industrial city in southeast Ukraine, houses the nuclear plant that supplies an estimated 40 per cent of the former Soviet republic’s nuclear power. It also has six of Ukraine’s 15 reactors.

Thousands of people have been killed and injured in the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began last Thursday with over a million people fleeing the country in a devastating crisis.