The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have launched an investigation into the commission of ecocide and a terrorist act in connection with the attack by Russian troops on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar.

"The enemy creates threats of an ecocatastrophe in Ukraine and Europe – an investigation into ecocide has been launched," the PGO said in its Telegram channel, citing Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

"This night, the armed forces of the Russian Federation attacked Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the sixth in the world. Enemy shelling caused a fire and the threat of a nuclear explosion, which could result in a global environmental disaster. Investigation into the commission of an ecocide and a terrorist act was launched (Part 2 of Article 28, Article 441 and Part 2 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the PGO said.

The PGO said that international law prohibits the military or any hostile use of means of influencing the natural environment.

"According to the Geneva Conventions, installations and structures containing dangerous forces, namely: dams, dams and nuclear power plants, should not become objects of attack. However, the aggressor, who does not disdain shelling residential areas, schools, gardens, hospitals, and almost daily attacks on high-risk facilities," the PGO said.

According to the report, due to the movement of enemy heavy equipment, the top layer of soil in the territories exposed to radioactive contamination after the Chornobyl disaster was disturbed. "Radioactive dust has risen into the air. According to the Automated Radiation Control System, the indicators in the exclusion zone have increased from 4.6 to 15.7 times compared to the annual average," the PGO said.

In addition, the PGO said that as a result of the shelling of the territory of the radioactive waste disposal site of the Kyiv branch of the Radon Association in Kyiv, the Automated Radiation Monitoring System was disabled.

Also, as they say in the report, the aggressor committed a deliberate attack and shelling of an oil depot in the village of Kriachky of the Vasylkiv community of Kyiv region, a fire on it led to massive pollution of the atmosphere with harmful substances and contamination of the earth with benzapyrene with ingress into groundwater.

"The enemy is dropping rockets on our children's heads, taking their lives, leaving us without a roof, water, heat and light, and at the same time trying in every possible way to poison us and cause environmental disasters in addition to war. We have launched criminal proceedings for each such fact. Investigative actions to record crimes and their consequences have been organized," the PGO said.