Damage to Ukrainian Nuclear Plant Would be ‘Suicide’ – UN Chief

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that any damage to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine would be “suicide”, following an upsurge in fighting around the facility.

Guterres said he was “gravely concerned” about the situation at the plant and said it had to be demilitarised, adding: “We must tell it like it is — any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide”.

Meanwhile, at the same conference in Lviv, after talks between the Ukrainian and Turkish presidents, Guterres said the UN wanted to ‘step up’ grain shipments leaving Ukraine.

“We will do our best to scale up our operations to face… the coming winter,” Guterres said, hailing a deal between Ukraine and Russia brokered by Turkey and the UN that has led to exports resuming this month.