IAEA boss: No Russian heavy weapons at Zaporozhye plant

RT
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:16 UTC

© Konstantin Mikhalchevsky / RIA Novosti

Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant

Europe's largest nuclear power plant was attacked by drones last week

Russia has not stationed heavy weapons at Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters on Monday.

Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of shelling Europe's largest nuclear plant, which sits close to the front line. Ukraine and its Western backers have also accused Moscow of using the facility as cover for its troops.

"There is no heavy weaponry there," Grossi told reporters, after a UN Security Council meeting dedicated to the renewed strikes on the plant.

Although there are Russian "armored vehicles and some security presence at the plant," IAEA monitors did not see any prohibited weapons, such as multiple rocket launchers, tanks, and artillery, Grossi explained.

© Thomas Kronsteiner / Gettyimages.ru

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He added that the IAEA does not have the mandate to determine which side has been attacking the facility, and argued that "indisputable evidence" is needed to establish who is responsible.

Addressing the Security Council, Grossi confirmed that Europe's largest nuclear power plant was struck on April 7, which was the first direct attack on the site since November 2022. Inspectors have determined that the apex of the containment dome of the Unit 6 reactor building was hit, he added. "Whilst the damage to the structure is superficial, the attack sets a very dangerous precedent of the successful targeting of the reactor containment," Grossi stressed, warning that "these reckless attacks must cease immediately."

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that Ukrainian forces have been "systematically" targeting the plant and surrounding areas. The Russian army has been "spotting and intercepting up to 100 drones per week," Nebenzia added, insisting that Moscow has never placed heavy weapons at the facility or used the plant to stage attacks on Ukraine.

Officials in Kiev have denied striking the nuclear plant. "The position of Ukraine is clear and unequivocal: we are not conducting any military activities or provocations against nuclear sites," Andrey Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence, told national TV this month. Andrey Kovalenko, the head of the state-run Center for Countering Disinformation, has accused Moscow of spreading false information and "manipulating the IAEA."

The agency said in its report this week that all of the facility's six reactors are currently in cold shutdown. According to the plant's management, only one reactor had been working since 2022 in order to keep the site operational. IAEA inspectors were deployed to monitor the facility in September 2022.

Comment: Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia at the UN:

Full text:

Good morning begins with "peaceful atom":

Permanent Representative of Russia Nebenzya - at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant:

"With the connivance of its Western sponsors, Ukraine is systematically carrying out irresponsible and reckless attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the adjacent territory. The Russian Armed Forces recorded and suppressed more than a hundred unmanned aerial vehicles in week.

Our Western colleagues, without noticing it themselves, spoke out today in the form of an ultimatum: "Transfer control of the Zaporizhia NPP, and then they will stop shelling it." Thus, they not only betrayed the Zelensky regime, but also actually admitted to complicity in these irresponsible attacks.

I would like to believe that our European neighbors have not yet atrophied the instinct of self-preservation and that they will not jeopardize the lives and health of their own citizens. After all, if Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant continue, no one can completely rule out a nuclear disaster on a regional and even global scale."