According to a plant spokesman, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is on fire following an attack by Russian troops invading Ukraine. “A fire broke out as a result of Russian forces shelling the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant,” spokesman Andrei Tuz said in a video posted on the plant’s Telegram account.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, called on Russian troops to stop attacking Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on Friday after a fire broke out. “If it explodes, it will be ten times the size of Chernobyl!” “Russians must STOP FIRE IMMEDIATELY,” Kuleba tweeted.
Meanwhile, the EU agreed on Thursday to approve temporary protection for one million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the conflict, as well as the establishment of a humanitarian hub in Romania. The European Union’s moves came in tandem with its sanctions against Russia, which were imposed in waves over the course of the invasion, which is now in its eighth day.
In Washington, President Joe Biden’s administration announced a similar move, granting temporary protected status to Ukrainians already in the country. That means they can stay in the country and the threat of deportation has been lifted. In a meeting in Brussels, EU interior ministers agreed to activate a temporary protection mechanism developed two decades ago in response to the wars in the former Yugoslavia but never used.
The decision was unanimously taken by ministers representing the EU’s 27 nations at a meeting in Brussels. Temporary protection will apply to Ukrainians and their family members crossing into the EU, as well as anyone who had prior refugee status in Ukraine. The protection allows refugees and their families to receive a residence permit and the right to access work and education for an initial year, renewable every six months for a total of two years.
Currently, Ukrainians with passports bearing biometric data have only the right to visit the EU’s Schengen area for up to three months. The EU is also setting up a “humanitarian hub” in Romania, one of four EU countries bordering Ukraine.
