Zelenskiy: Ukraine nuclear plant again neared catastrophe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that a new cutoff of power connecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station to the national grid had placed the plant for a second time "a step away from a radiation catastrophe".

Zelenskiy said new Russian shelling was responsible.

"Again - already for the second time - because of Russian provocation, the Zaporizhzhia station was placed one step away from a radiation catastrophe," he said in his nightly video message.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling around the plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the backup power line had been cut to extinguish a fire ahead of its presentation of a report on the situation at the plant on Tuesday.

"The shelling of the (plant's) territory means that the terrorist state does not care what the IAEA will say, it is not concerned about what the international community will decide," Zelenskiy said.