Nuclear facilities should never be targeted in military ops: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed alarm over reports of heavy fighting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine.

Taking to Twitter, the UN chief said nuclear facilities should never ever be targeted in military operations.

"I have been following with great alarm reports of heavy fighting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and I want to make it very clear that nuclear facilities should never ever be targeted in military operations," the UN chief tweeted.

On Thursday, Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Russian forces had taken control of the site of the country's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). But Director-General Rafael Mario Grossi said that the nuclear power plant continued to be operated by its regular staff and there had been no release of radioactive material.

Ukrainian counterparts informed the IAEA that a projectile overnight had hit a training building in the vicinity of one of the plant's reactor units, causing a localized fire that was later extinguished.

Media reports said the safety systems of the plant's six reactors had not been affected and there has been no release of radioactive material.

As a result of developments at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the United States and its European allies had requested an emergency meeting on Ukraine.

"Today we have once again heard lies about how Russian troops attacked the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, it's all part of an unprecedented campaign of lies and disinformation against Russia," said Vassily Nebenzia, Russian representative at UN.

"At present, Zaporizhzhya NPP and adjacent territory are being guarded by Russian troops," he added.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya blamed Moscow for the incident.

"Lies of representative of Russian Federation are not surprising; he may not be properly informed by his capital. We have seen on many occasions... he had no idea what his capital was planning to do in mid of one of the recent sessions. So I wouldn't really rely on his words," he said.