“It is impossible to say the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe after a totally pointless attack by the Russians. This is one of the most serious threats in Europe today,” Podolyak said.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said that fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces had erupted in the ghost cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat.

By around 18:20 (UTC+2) the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was under Russian control, as were the surrounding areas, local sources confirmed.

Chernobyl is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine.

Chernobyl is about 90 kilometers (60 mi) north of Kyiv and 160 kilometers (100 mi) southwest of the Belarusian city of Gomel.

Before its evacuation, the city had about 14,000 residents,[1] while around 1,000 people live in the city today. (ILKHA)