Kyiv authorities have stressed the prevention of a nuclear meltdown from shelling.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, skirmishes have continued in and around the perimeter of Kyiv. One particular spot that has drawn international concern is the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Bouts of military shelling have been striking near the area, and while both Ukraine and Russia have blamed the other for the shells, Kyiv officials have warned that a shell strike on the plant could lead to a nuclear meltdown in a similar vein to the Chernobyl disaster.

To prevent such a disaster from happening, Kyiv officials have called for the area around the plant to be designated an official demilitarized zone. They’ve been joined in these concerns by both UN officials and representatives of Ukraine’s state nuclear power company, Energoatom, all of whom have called for peacekeepers and nuclear inspectors to keep the area cordoned off and under control.

“Any attack (on) a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a Monday press conference.

“The decision that we demand from the world community and all our partners … is to withdraw the invaders from the territory of the station and create a demilitarized zone on the territory of the station,” Energoatom head Petro Kotin said in a televised address.

“The presence of peacekeepers in this zone and the transfer of control of it to them, and then also control of the station to the Ukrainian side would resolve this problem.”