Order: Run... A "major nuclear accident" is brewing?
The evacuations were said to affect Energodar, a town near Ukraine's largest power plant, and the UN nuclear watchdog warned of a possible "severe nuclear accident".
Ivan Fedorov, the Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, a city located in the Zaporizhzhia region, said the order had caused chaos and five-hour lines of cars at the Crimean checkpoint.
He added that there are reports of Russian military personnel disguised as civilians trying to escape from the occupied part of Zaporozhzhia.
"Therefore, another filtering has now been added when leaving the temporarily occupied territory - they check all civilians in cars and try to prevent disguised Russian military personnel in cars," Fedorov said, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.
He also warned that the humanitarian crisis is "growing" because stores are not receiving goods, hospitals are closing, and citizens are threatened with power and water cuts.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that the situation "is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous."
"I am extremely concerned about the very real nuclear threat and safety risks the plant faces. We must act now to prevent the threat of a serious nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the surrounding area," said Rafael Grossi.
Russian state media confirmed the evacuation of 18 occupied regions on Friday.
The plant in Zaporizhzhia is one of the ten largest in the world and is responsible for almost half of the nuclear production of four Ukrainian reactors.
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