G7: Moscow must return control of Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant to Kiev

The foreign ministers of the G7 economic powers called on Moscow to immediately return Ukraine's embattled Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to full Ukrainian control as fears of disaster grow.

"Ukrainian personnel responsible for the operation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant must be able to carry out their duties without threats or pressure," the statement issued on Wednesday said. "It is Russia's continued domination of the nuclear power plant that endangers the region."

The plant, which is near the southern city of Enerhodar and is Europe's biggest, has been shelled several times and was partially damaged last weekend. However, the critical infrastructure is said to remain intact.

Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attacks. So far, the accusations cannot be independently verified.

On Russia's initiative, the UN Security Council is to deal with the shelling on Thursday in New York. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is to brief the council.

The G7 foreign ministers warned that Russia's actions significantly increase the risk of a nuclear incident and put the people of Ukraine, neighbouring states and the world at risk.

They stressed "the importance of allowing IAEA experts to be sent to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to address nuclear safety and security concerns and measures."

Moscow lashed out at the UN.

"The UN has unfortunately played a negative role in the case at hand," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian state radio station Sputnik.

Zakharova accused authorities at the UN of preventing an inspection by the IAEA.

"In the UN Secretariat, which deals with problems of nuclear energy, including the consequences of technical disasters and the problem in its broadest sense, they should understand that the world is walking on the precipice," Zakharova said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had already complained in a statement on Tuesday that a planned trip by IAEA representatives to the plant fell through at the last minute because of security concerns raised by the UN Secretariat.

Elsewhere, at least 11 people were killed in missile attacks overnight in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region not far from the Zaporizhzhya plant, the local military said.

"A tragic night ... in the Nikopol area the Russian army killed 11 people and injured 13," the head of the Dnipropetrovsk military administration Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.

Both of the affected areas are on the opposite bank of the Dnipro river to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant.

The small town of Marhanets was worst hit, with 20 multistorey buildings damaged including two schools, a dormitory and a cultural centre, Reznichenko said.

Ten people were killed in the town and 11 others injured, seven of them seriously, he said. In another village close to Nikopol city, another woman died in her home as a result of the attack and a couple was injured.

The two villages are on the north bank of the Dnipro's Kakhovka reservoir. On the southern side less than 20 kilometres away is the nuclear plant that has come under fire.

The plant's operator Enerhoatom said on the Telegram messaging service on Wednesday the site was operating "with the risk of violations of radiation and fire safety specifications."

Earlier, the head of the agency had accused Russian troops of using the shelling to disconnect the power plant from the Ukrainian electricity grid.

Meanwhile, information was trickling in on the explosions that rocked Russia's Saki air base on the annexed Crimean Peninsula on Tuesday.

At least 10 Russian aircraft were destroyed in the series of blasts, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat.

Officials in Moscow say a breach of fire safety rules was responsible.

But observers assume that bold attack, which took place far beyond the war's front lines, was carried out by Ukrainians.

The leadership in Kiev has not directly claimed responsibility, although presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: "This is just the beginning."

It would be the first military attack on targets in Crimea since the Russian annexation in 2014.

Crimea's Russian-appointed leader Sergei Aksyonov declared state of emergency in the local district, according to the Interfax news agency. At least 252 residents of the nearby seaside town of Novofedorivka will be relocated to emergency shelters, he said.

Aksyonov promised the owners of the damaged houses compensation between 10,000 and 100,000 roubles (equivalent to $170 to $1,700).

He said criminal investigations into the explosions are ongoing and that two gas supply lines had been temporarily shut down.