Jess Hardiman
Putin is preparing a 'terrorist attack on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant', according to Ukraine.
Its Defence Intelligence Twitter account tweeted: "Putin is preparing a terrorist attack on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
"The Russian-controlled Chernobyl nuclear power plant plans to create a man-made catastrophe, for which the occupiers will try to shift responsibility to Ukraine."
A full statement was also posted on the country's official government Facebook page, where regular updates have been shared after Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of last month.
The country had previously warned there was a danger of a radiation leak after electricity was cut off to the plant during fighting between its troops and Russian forces occupying the defunct power station, but, according to Reuters, the United Nations nuclear watchdog saw 'no critical impact on security'.
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Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said reserve diesel generators could power the plant for only 48 hours.
"After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent," he wrote on Twitter.
"I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply."
Automatically translated to English, the Ukrainian government's Facebook statement said: "According to the available information – Vladimir Putin ordered the preparation of a terrorist attack at the Chernobyl nuclear station. The creation of a technological catastrophe is planned at the controlled Russian forces of the CAEC, the responsibility for which the occupiers will try to translate to Ukraine.
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"At the moment, the CAEC is completely disconnected from the monitoring systems of the International Atomic Energy Agency (MAGATE). The station has been disrupted. The resource of existing diesel generators is calculated for 48 hours of security systems to support.
"Okupanti refused to give access to the station Ukrainian repairman. Instead, there, according to the instruction of Alexander Lukashenko, 'Belarusian specialists' came in."
Among them, the post said, were 'Russian dissidents' entering to 'organize a terrorist attack'.
The statement said that 'without getting the desired result from the ground military operation and direct negotiations', Putin is 'ready to commit to the nuclear blackmail of the world community for the sake of actions to support Ukraine', adding: "Putin's similar actions will have catastrophic consequences for the whole world. Looks like this is exactly what the Russian dictator is counting on, demanding unacceptable actions."