Russian forces closing in on another nuclear facility

Russia’s military on Friday once again advanced toward a nuclear plant in Ukraine.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the U.N. Security Council that Russian troops were inching closer to Ukraine’s nuclear plant in Yuzhnoukrainsk, according to Fox News.

The report comes just one day after Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s largest nuclear facility, the news outlet noted.

Thomas-Greenfield during the Friday emergency session warned that the nuclear power station in Yuzhnoukrainsk was in “imminent danger.”

“Russian forces are now 20 miles, and closing, from Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear facility,” she reportedly said. “So this imminent danger continues.”

Earlier in the session, Thomas-Greenfield signaled that Russia’s focus on nuclear plants could pose a problem for Ukraine.

“Nuclear facilities cannot become part of this conflict,” Thomas-Greenfield said, Fox News reported. “Reliable electricity is vital for the nuclear facility, as are back-up diesel generators and fuel. Safe transit corridors must be maintained. Russia must halt any further use of force that might put at further risk all 15 operable reactors across Ukraine – or interfere with Ukraine’s ability to maintain the safety and security of its 37 nuclear facilities and their surrounding populations.”

Russia previously seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, forcing staffers there to work at gunpoint. Fighting also occurred near Ukraine’s decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant earlier in the week.

Thomas-Greenfield condemned the earlier attacks on nuclear facilities as “reckless and dangerous.” 

“Russia’s attack last night put Europe’s largest nuclear power at grave risk. It was incredibly reckless and dangerous. And it threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and Europe,” she said at the time.