Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has slammed Putin's troops for seizing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as he urged Russian citizens to remember the 'catastrophic' Chernobyl disaster.
Zelenskyy appeared on video as he urged Russian residents to tell authorities that they want to live on land 'without radioactive contamination', amid fears of a meltdown following the attack on Europe's largest power station.
The Ukrainian leader, 44, appealed to people to remember the 'catastrophic consequences' of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster as he said 'radiation does not know where Russia is'.
In the early hours of Friday, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which creates around 20 per cent of Ukraine's electricity, was attacked.
CCTV captured a fierce gun battle between Putin's men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-storey training building just outside the main complex. Moscow's men then stopped firefighters getting to the building for several hours.
Moscow has, predictably, attempted to deny responsibility for the attack, saying its forces had come under attack by Ukrainian 'saboteurs' while patrolling the plant, who then set fire to the building themselves.
In another denial, a delusional Vladimir Putin has again insisted that Russia is not bombing Ukrainian cities, despite fears that 100 people are buried under rubble after an apartment block near Kyiv was struck and after a cluster bomb attack on the city of Chernihiv which killed 49.
The Zaporizhzhia attack has been internationally condemned, with French President Emmanuel Macron expressing alarm about 'the risks to nuclear safety' while the US ambassador to the UN slammed the advance as a dangerous escalation that 'represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world'.
Boris Johnson spoke with Macron about the 'appalling situation in Ukraine' on Friday evening and described it as 'the worst war on our continent for a long time', while both leaders agreed 'the reckless actions leading to damage to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were despicable', to a Downing Street spokesperson said.
The leaders were said to have agreed it is 'imperative' both countries continue to do all they can to help the Ukrainian people, 'including via further humanitarian support - as well as economically and militarily'.
'Both leaders reiterated the UK and France would work closely in the coming days in the face of Putin's increasingly savage and evil actions,' the spokesperson added.
Nuclear experts warned the attacks were 'frightening' but that any disaster caused by fighting would be similar to Fukushima in 2011 rather than Chernobyl in 1986. Fukushima, in Japan, melted down after a tsunami cut electricity to the plant, disabling its cooling system. Chernobyl exploded after a training exercise gone-wrong caused an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.
Addressing Russian citizens, Zelenskyy said: 'Russian people, I want to appeal to you: How is this possible?
'After all we fought together in 1986 against the Chernobyl catastrophic consequences. You must remember smouldering graphite which was scattered across by an explosion.
'The victims. You must remember irradiation over the destroyed power plant unit. You must remember evacuation from Pripyat and the 30km zone around it. How could you ever forget about it?
'If you did not forget, then you must not keep silent. You must tell your authorities, go out on the streets and say that you want to live, that you want to live on the land without radioactive contamination.
'Radiation does not know where Russia is.'
Zelenskyy also appealed to European nations to support his country's fight against the invading Russian military, asking people not to be silent about what is happening in the Ukraine.
In a video, he addressed thousands of people protesting the war in several European cities, naming among them Paris, Prague, Lyon, Frankfurt and others.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (pictured) urged Russian residents to tell authorities that they want to live on land 'without radioactive contamination', after Russian troops seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
In the early hours of Friday, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was attacked. A damaged Russian attack vehicle is seen outside the power plant (left) while firefighters work to extinguish a fire that broke out inside a training complex (right)
Fire-damaged buildings at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex are pictured on Friday morning after coming under attack by Russian forces overnight, leading to international condemnation
Russian armoured vehicles and troops attacked the nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday, shooting and shelling guards holed up in administrative buildings near the nuclear reactors - setting one of them on fire
'Don't turn a blind eye on this,' he said. 'Come out and support Ukraine as much as you can,' he said though a translator. 'If we fall, you will fall.'
'And if we win, and I'm sure we'll win, this will be the victory of the whole democratic world, this will be the victory of our freedom, this will be the victory of light over darkness, of freedom over slavery.
'And if we win we will become as blossoming as Europe. And Europe will be flourishing more than ever. All of you are Ukrainians today, thank you for this.'
There were frantic calls for a ceasefire during the early morning attack on the Zaporizhzhia plant, which reportedly saw Russian artillery shells rain down on the plant, preventing firefighters from battling the flames in a nearby administration building.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian military forces attacked the plant on all sides on Thursday night and by 2.30am, the assault had set an adjacent five-storey training building alight, causing widespread alarm over radiation levels.
Emergency crews were finally allowed to go in and douse the flames before Russian troops moved in an occupied the site, which provides a fifth of Ukraine's electricity and is the ninth largest plant in the world.
The UN's nuclear monitoring agency said that, fortunately, none of the site's six reactors had been directly damaged and radiation levels remained normal. Three Ukrainian troops were killed defending the complex and two others were wounded, Kyiv said.
The Zaporizhzhia reactor components are housed inside a heavily reinforced steel and concrete containment building designed to withstand extreme events – both natural and man-made.
Russia's defence ministry confirmed the plant was working normally and blamed the fire on a 'monstrous attack' by Ukrainian saboteurs, but admitted its forces were now in control.
The US embassy in Kyiv tweeted: 'It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant. Putin's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear plant takes his reign of terror one step further.'
Sparks erupt from an administration building (bottom right) as a live steam video shot from a larger office block behind it films Russian tanks opening fire on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday morning
Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN's nuclear energy watchdog, outlines where the building that caught fire was in relation to the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia
A projectile (the bright light, bottom left) lands in a car park at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, damaging cars in the area
As fears of a nuclear disaster continue, Russian planes also bombed a thermal power plant in Okhtyrka, 220 miles east of Kyiv, on Friday.
Five of the six reactors – which generate enough energy to power roughly four million homes – have been safely shut down while the remaining one is working at around 60 per cent capacity.
The Ukrainian state nuclear plant operator Energoatom confirmed radiation was normal and there was no further fighting.
But an official said the organisation no longer had contact with the plant's management or control over potentially dangerous nuclear material.
Experts noted that the plant was of a different and safer type to Chernobyl – which was the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986 and which has already been captured by Russian troops.
Claire Corkhill, professor of nuclear materials at Sheffield University, told the BBC the reactors at Zaporizhzhia appear to be shutting down to remove the danger of a Fukushima-style meltdown - which may have been Russia's intention in attacking the plant.
Moscow has, predictably, attempted to deny responsibility for the attack, saying its forces had come under attack by Ukrainian 'saboteurs' while patrolling the plant, who then set fire to the building themselves.
'These statements are simply untrue,' Moscow's ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council. 'This is all part of an unprecedented campaign of lies and disinformation against Russia.'
He said Russian troops had exchanged small arms fire with Ukrainian forces at Zaporizhzhia but had not shelled the facility in southern Ukraine.
He claimed the fighting occurred at a training complex 'located just outside the territory of the nuclear power plant' and accused 'Ukrainian saboteurs' of setting fire to the training facility.
'The operation of the nuclear power plant continues normally,' Nebenzia said. 'Nothing threatens the safety of the six power units. There is no threat of a release of radioactive material.'
But Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian envoy to the UN, lashed out at his Russian counterpart, and accused him of spreading 'lies' as he claimed Russian troops in control of the nuclear facility were refusing access to Ukrainian inspectors.
Kyslytsya also formally called for the United Nations to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
'Establishing a ban on all flights in the airspace of Ukraine should be a top priority for the Security Council,' he said.
NATO has already ruled out setting up a no-fly zone over Ukraine and Russia would veto any such proposal in the Security Council.
Addressing the Ukraine's call at the UN council, President Zelenskyy took to Twitter to accuse Russia of 'nuclear terrorism'.
He wrote: 'Nuclear terrorism requires decisive action in response. At the Security Council meeting #ООН we called for closing the skies over and launching an operation to maintain peace and security. The goal is to save dangerous objects. The world should not watch, but help!'
Elsewhere, Zelenskyy said the attack on Zaporizhzhia could have caused a crisis equivalent to 'six Chernobyls' - referencing the fact that the modern-day plant has six reactors while the Soviet-era disaster affected only one - and called on Russians to end the fighting.
In 2011, a 33ft-high tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people crashed into Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.
This led to several meltdowns, allowing harmful radioactive fuel rods and debris to escape from contained areas.
Approaching a decade after the disaster, researchers are still struggling to clean up fuel in the waters of the wasting reactors.
The attack on Zaporizhzhia has been internationally condemned, with the US ambassador to the United Nations slammed the advance as 'reckless' and deemed it to be a dangerous escalation that 'represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world'.
'By the grace of God, the world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night,' Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council.
'Russia's attack last night put Europe's largest nuclear power plant at grave risk,' Thomas-Greenfield said.
She told the council that the attack threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and the rest of Europe as she warned that nuclear facilities 'cannot become part of this conflict'.
'It was incredibly reckless and dangerous. And it threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and Europe,' she added.
As NATO diplomats met in Brussels today, Thomas-Greenfield also urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine following the 'dangerous' attack.
'Not only has he not listened, we've just witnessed a dangerous new escalation that represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world,' Thomas-Greenfield said.
'President Putin must stop this humanitarian catastrophe by ending this war and ceasing these unconscionable attacks against the people of Ukraine,' she said. 'Mr. Putin must stop this madness, and stop it now.'
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the attack showed how reckless the Russian invasion had been, adding: 'It just raises the level of potential catastrophe to a level that nobody wants to see.'
US President Joe Biden urged Moscow to stop its military activities around the site, while Canada's Justin Trudeau said the 'horrific attacks must cease immediately'.
Meanwhile, Zhang Jun, the Chinese envoy to the UN, called on the international community meanwhile to 'stay cool-headed and rational'.
'Any action must contribute to de-escalation and diplomatic settlement, rather than adding fuel to the fire, leading to further escalation and deterioration of the situation,' the Chinese ambassador said.
And Rosemary DiCarlo, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, told the council that attacks on nuclear power facilities 'are contrary to international humanitarian law'.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaking to the council from an airplane on a flight to Iran, said he was prepared to travel to Ukraine to ensure the security of the country's nuclear facilities.
'This mission will be strictly restricted and circumscribed to the safety and security of the nuclear installations in Ukraine,' Grossi said.
He also paid homage to the plant's Ukrainian staff, saying: 'To their bravery, to their courage, to their resilience because they are doing this in very difficult circumstances.'
French President Emmanuel Macron also joined other leaders in expressing his alarm about the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia plant.
A column of Russian tanks, armoured vehicles and support trucks is seen at the Zaporizhzhia plant after it was seized
An apartment building damaged following a shelling on the town of Irpin, 26 kilometres west of Kyiv
A school building damaged in yesterday's shelling in the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, which saw 47 people die, according to local authorities
A man stands in front of a residential building damaged in yesterday's shelling in the city of Chernihiv on March 4 after 47 people died in the city on March 3, according to officials
Ukrainian troops take cover from Russian shelling in the city of Bucha, located to the west of Kyiv
People take cover from shelling in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv, during a Russian assault to try and capture it
Macron is 'extremely worried about the risks to nuclear safety, security and the implementation of international safeguards resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,' the French presidency said in a statement.
It added that France would in the next hours propose 'concrete measures' to ensure the safety and security of the five main nuclear sites in Ukraine.
His concerns were echoed by deputy PM Dominic Raab, who said the move was an 'affront to the world at large', while Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned Putin that he was 'playing with fire'.
While Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Store branded the assault as 'madness', and Italian leader Mario Draghi condemned the 'heinous attack' as 'an attack on everyone's security'.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said it demonstrated the
