Former world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko warned fighting at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power in Ukraine could result in a catastrophe "multiple times" bigger than what was seen at Fukushima and Chernobyl.
Klitschko, the younger brother of Kyiv mayor and fellow former superstar boxer Vitali Klitschko, said it was unclear how Ukrainian personnel inside the Russian-occupied plant were holding up.
"The world needs to understand if [Zaporizhzhya] is going off, there's going to be Fukushima and Chernobyl in multiple times," he told Britain's Times Radio on Sunday.
He said the plant and the nuclear specialists working there were being held "hostage" by Moscow.
Europe's largest nuclear power plant, with six reactors, has been occupied by Russian troops starting in early March. It is strategically important for Ukraine's electricity supply.
Blasts have hit the area of Zaporizhzhya, with Moscow and Kyiv blaming each other. So far, critical safety and control systems at the site in southern Ukraine are not known to have been damaged.
Russia has rejected international calls to withdraw its troops from the site, but has said it would allow experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to assess the plant first hand.
There have been disagreements between Moscow and Kiever over a number of issues, including what a travel route for IAEA inspectors might look like.
