The Biden administration urged Russia Friday to surrender Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and avoid a potential reprise of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster — amid speculation that Moscow is considering shelling the facility in a “false flag” operation. Russian forces have held the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since March. Recently, the plant has served as a base for several Russian artillery units that have kept up constant fire on the nearby Ukrainian front lines. “We are very concerned about military operations at or near any of Ukraine’s nuclear power facilities,” a senior US defense official said Friday. “We’ve been very clear that fighting near a nuclear power plant is dangerous and irresponsible, and we want the fighters and Russia to operate with extreme caution and conduct no actions that would result in a potential radiological release.”

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