Rising fears of a radiation leak at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia Transcript

Zachary Kiesch: (00:00)
Russia and Ukraine are continuing to blame each other for shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces shelled the region for 14 hours Sunday. The head of Ukraine’s nuclear agency is sending an urgent warning.

Speaker 2: (00:14)
This is one step from radiation emergency, actually.

Zachary Kiesch: (00:18)
The Zaporizhzhia plant temporarily went offline Thursday for the first time in its history, after officials say the only operating power line caught fire, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. People near the plant have been lining up as authorities distribute iodine tablets in preparation for potential radiation exposure.

Speaker 3: (00:37)
We received few 1,000 of those pills, and within a week we had almost none.

Zachary Kiesch: (00:44)
ABC’s Britt Clennet is there as many Ukrainians try to evacuate the area.

Britt Clennet: (00:49)
This is what you’ll see here at this evacuation center in Zaporizhzhia. Columns of cars coming from the occupied areas, and in particular, as that safety was compromised and the fighting continues around the plant, a significant number of these people are coming from Zaporizhzhia plant.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy: (01:04)
[foreign language 00:01:04].

Zachary Kiesch: (01:04)
President Zelensky is pleading for help. Such international pressure is needed, he says, forcing the occupiers to withdraw from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia plant immediately. Meanwhile, fighting continues in other parts of the country. Russian missiles struck the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city Saturday. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces also shelled the city of Sloviansk, damaging residential buildings and a school. The city, located in the Donbas region, has been under heavy attack for months. Zachary Kiesch, ABC News, New York.