蜜芽传媒

World leaders are accusing Russia of endangering the safety of an entire continent after its forces shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine's Emergency Services managed to extinguish the fire, which broke out at a building outside the plant's perimeter, but authorities say that Russian troops have since seized the plant.

Newsday spoke to Pavlo Klimkin, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine until 2019.

"As a former physicist once in charge of nuclear safety in the country, I understands the risks. What the Russians have done is a fundamental and intentional threat to international security. This is the first time in human history that people are willing to risk radioactive contamination... on a planetary scale."

(Pic: Surveillance camera footage shows Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during shelling; Credit: Reuters)