Ukrainians block road to nuclear plant

Hundreds of Ukrainian nuclear power plant workers and nearby citizens on Wednesday blocked Russian troop access to a nuclear power plant, attempting to prevent Russian forces from advancing in the area, according to a video shared to social media and verified by CNN. 

In the video, the crowd of people is seen holding up Ukrainian flags and impeding roadway access to a facility in the Ukraine town of Enerhodarby, standing in the way of the route and using garbage trucks to block streets, CNN reports.

“We conveyed the position of our city and its residents that the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant] is under reliable protection, that its workers and residents of Enerhodar are under Ukrainian flags. … All municipal services are working in emergency mode. Nobody is going to surrender the city. People are determined,”  wrote Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov to his Facebook page, CNN notes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday said that Ukraine had requested assistance “to provide immediate assistance in coordinating activities in relation to the safety of the [Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant] and other nuclear facilities,” according to CNN.

Ukraine’s request comes after Russia notified the IAEA on Tuesday that Russian forces had taken control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. 

According to CNN, the Russian letter to IAEA said that employees at the Ukrainian nuclear site continue to “work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation. The radiation levels remain normal.”

Last week, Russian forces took control of the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Chernobyl is the site of the worst nuclear incident in history.

In 1986, several explosions occurred at the Soviet-designed reactor. The reactor’s core experienced a meltdown and radioactive material was released into the atmosphere.