Emergency response drills to overcome the consequences of a possible accident at Zaporizhzhia NPP have started in three southern regions. Photos and video

Drills to overcome the consequences of a possible radiation leak from one of the power units at Zaporizhzhia NPP have started in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and part of Kherson regions. As part of the drills, which were as close as possible to real-life events, all personnel of the relevant services were alerted at 5am on 29 June.

This was announced on Telegram by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko. According to him, 8,000 people are taking part in the drills, including representatives of local authorities, law enforcement officers, volunteers, doctors and representatives of all government services responsible for the civil protection system.

About 350 specialised vehicles and 400 evacuation buses were also involved in the "disaster relief". In addition, specially created evacuation teams in localities are moving and escorting local residents to safe areas. About 200 additional National Police patrols are ensuring unhindered traffic on the roads.

Klymenko stressed that the Ukrainian authorities are now aware of the enormous danger posed by the occupation of the ZNPP, especially for the three regions, and are therefore working on all possible scenarios.

"Under the worst-case scenario, about 300,000 residents of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions are subject to mandatory evacuation," the minister said.

"The enemy is close by, and we understand that we must be ready for any of its intentions. We will come to the rescue in time, the authorities will respond to any challenges," Klymenko assured.

As a reminder, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevych, called on citizens to prepare a five-day food and water supply in case of a terrorist attack on ZNPP. The issue of evacuating the population in the event of a plant explosion is currently being discussed at the state level.

At the same time, residents of the Kherson region, namely the Novovorontsov community, are advised to leave the area.

"We all hope that the world cannot allow a catastrophe of a planetary scale in the 21st century, but ZNPP is under the control of inadequate thugs, so we can expect anything from them. We did not believe that they could blow up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, but they did it," the local military administration said.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported:

- Ukraine's Health Minister Viktor Lyashko believes that an explosion at the ZNPP, if organised by the aggressor country Russia, does not threaten Kyiv. According to the available forecasts, the capital is beyond the possible impact of the consequences;

- the United States reported that it is "closely monitoring" the situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP temporarily seized by Russian occupiers. The Ukrainian authorities had previously claimed that Russians had mined the plant and could be preparing a terrorist attack;

- On 14 June, Russia launched a disinformation and manipulation campaign aimed at intimidating Ukrainians. Russian Telegram channels began to spread videos hinting at a possible terrorist attack on Zaporizhzhia NPP in the future.

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!