U.S. envoy to U.N. says world narrowly averted nuclear catastrophe in Russian assault

A view shows a damaged administrative building of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Enerhodar, the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine in this handout picture released March 4, 2022. Press service of National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom/Handout via REUTERS

The world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe overnight when a fire broke out during a Russian seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday, and demanded assurances from Moscow that such an assault will not happen again.

Speaking at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the attack reflected a "dangerous new escalation" in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and warned that "imminent danger" persisted, citing Russian troops whom she said were 20 miles (32 km) from Ukraine's second largest nuclear facility.

Surveillance camera footage shows the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following shelling, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine March 4, 2022, in this screengrab from a video obtained from social media. Zaporizhzhya NPP via YouTube via REUTERS

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Doina Chiacu; editing by Grant McCool)