Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Warns UN That Russians Could Cause Nuclear Disaster

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Sept. 24, 2024. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 25, warned of a potential nuclear disaster brought by Russian forces targeting Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure.

Speaking to the international body more than two years after Russian forces marched en masse into his country, Zelenskyy recounted a report he received in the early days of the conflict, stating that Russian tanks had fired at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“This was one of the most horrifying moments of the war, when no one could know how Russian strikes on the nuclear facility would end,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader compared the risk posed by the Russian forces at the Zaporizhzhia facility to the deadly 1986 Chornobyl nuclear power plant meltdown.

Russian forces captured the facility in March 2022 and have retained control of it ever since.

Earlier this summer, Zelenskyy accused the Russian occupiers of attempting to sabotage the plant, while Russia has attributed damage at the facility to Ukrainian drone attacks.

Zelenskyy thanked the General Assembly for passing a resolution in July urging Russia to return control of the plant to Ukraine.

Still, he insisted greater pressure is needed to prevent Russian forces from further interfering with Ukraine’s nuclear power infrastructure.

“Now, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] does seem to be planning attacks on our nuclear power plants and the infrastructure, aiming to disconnect the plants from the power grid,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader described this Russian effort to disconnect Zaporizhzhia as part of a broader effort to degrade the Ukrainian energy grid ahead of the winter.

This strategy, he said, is meant to inflict cold and darkness upon the Ukrainian population and compel them to surrender.

“Just imagine, please, your country, with 80 percent of its energy system gone with such a destroyed part of the system,” Zelenskyy said. “What kind of life would that be?”

A day before his remarks, Zelenskyy told the U.N. Security Council that Russia must be forced to accept peace.

The Ukrainian leader plans to continue promoting a “victory plan” during the rest of his visit to the United States.

On Sept. 25, Zelenskyy urged U.N. member nations not to push Ukraine to accept a “frozen truce instead of real peace.”

He said a final peace must include nuclear safety assurances and measures to stop Russian forces from leveraging control of Ukraine’s energy grid and food supplies.

He further called for the release of captured Ukrainian forces and for Russian forces to withdraw from Ukraine’s internationally recognized boundaries.

“We must uphold the U.N. Charter and guarantee our right, Ukraine’s right, to territorial integrity and sovereignty, just as we do for any other nation,” Zelenskyy said.

“We need to withdraw the Russian occupiers, which will bring an end to the hostilities in Ukraine.”