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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other world bodies must act much faster to force the Russian military to leave the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today

Volodymyr Zelensky is a Ukrainian artist, screenwriter, producer and politician. Volodymyr (sometimes cited by Reuters.

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"Every minute that the Russian military remains at the nuclear power plant there is a risk of a global radiation catastrophe," he said in a video message.

Zelensky also said the world narrowly avoided a radiation disaster yesterday after the last power line supplying electricity to the Russian-captured Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was restored hours after it was cut.

Zelensky blamed shelling by Russian armed forces for starting fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal-fired power station, which caused Europe's largest nuclear power plant to go offline.

He added that backup diesel generators provided power and saved the plant.

The IAEA is "very close" to an inspection at the Zaporizhia NPP

"If our employees at the plant had not reacted after the outage, then we would have already been forced to deal with the consequences of a radiation accident," Zelensky said in his evening video address.

"Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation accident," he added.

The Ukrainian president said IAEA officials must gain access to the power plant within days "before the occupiers push the situation beyond the point of no return."

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky

Zaporizhzhia NPP