IAEA chief condemns Ukraine strikes on Zaporozhye power plant
Attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Europe's largest facility of its kind, are 'unacceptable,' Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has stated.
His remark came shortly after Russian authorities in the eponymous region reported multiple drone strikes on the ZNPP, blaming the Ukrainian military. Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of targeting the facility in the past.
The power plant was brought under Russian control in March 2022, shortly after which the region's residents voted in a referendum to join Russia, which Ukraine has dismissed as a sham. Around the same time, the IAEA deployed a monitoring mission to the ZNPP, which has remained in-situ to date.
Speaking to reporters at Khrabrovo Airport in Russia's Kaliningrad Region on Friday, Grossi insisted that 'any attack on any nuclear power plant, in particular [the] Zaporozhye [NPP], is absolutely unacceptable.'
He stopped short of apportioning the blame for such incidents to either Ukraine or Russia, noting that the IAEA's mandate is purely technical in nature.
Grossi argued, however, that the fact that the international watchdog is monitoring the situation and recording any attacks, is meant to act as a deterrent.
He was in Kaliningrad for a meeting with the CEO of Russia's state-run nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Aleksey Likhachev, who described the talks as the 'most multifaceted and meaningful' to date, during a press conference on Friday.
He emphasized the importance of IAEA's mission at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, noting how it provides an 'information window for the whole world into the real state of affairs.' This helps fight 'provocations [and] fakes.'
In a statement on Thursday, the IAEA chief reported that the watchdog's team stationed at the facility had 'heard repeated rounds of gunfire that appeared to be aimed at drones reportedly attacking the site's training center, followed by the sound of multiple explosions.'
Grossi stressed that 'it was the fourth time this year that the training center, located just outside the site perimeter, was reportedly targeted by unmanned aerial vehicles.'
Drone attacks on the ZNPP 'must stop immediately,' he insisted, warning of 'potentially serious consequences.'
Also on Thursday, a statement appeared on the ZNPP's Telegram channel, claiming the Ukrainian military had conducted multiple drone attacks on the training center located on the facility's grounds, with no casualties or significant damage reported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Russian news outlet in Azerbaijan raided amid diplomatic row
The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry has announced a raid on the Baku office of Russian news network Sputnik. The move comes amid tensions between the two nations, following a police raid on suspected Azerbaijani gangs in Russia. There is a strong police presence around the building hosting the Sputnik newsroom in Baku, local media confirmed on Monday. The outlet's central office in Moscow said it cannot get in touch with its journalists. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Russia Today
6 hours ago
- Russia Today
Russia abandons nuclear deal with new NATO member
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has ordered that an information sharing agreement with Sweden on nuclear accidents and nuclear installations be abandoned, after Stockholm joined NATO last year. The relevant document was signed by Mishustin on June 24 and published on the state portal for legal information on Friday. The deal, signed by the USSR and Sweden in 1988, taking force of April that year, stemmed from the 1986 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, in which the agency's members agreed to notify each other of any nuclear accidents on their territory that could affect other countries. Scientists at the Swedish nuclear power station at Forsmark were among the first in the west to detect increasing radiation levels on April 28th 1986, two days after the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine. Sweden joined NATO in March 2024, abandoning its long-standing policy of neutrality. Stockholm has provided almost $10 billion in military and other assistance to Kiev since February 2022, while also announcing a major rearmament program at home. Russia constitutionally remains a successor state of the Soviet Union, having exclusively incurred the bloc's debt upon its dissolution, and Moscow recognises international treaties signed by the USSR. Russian ambassador to Stockholm Sergey Belyaev told RIA-Novosti in May that Stockholm's stance 'indicates that Sweden has completely lost its status of a neutral country and is turning into a springboard for the implementation of NATO's militaristic ambitions.'
Russia Today
8 hours ago
- Russia Today
EU state's president calls on other members to talk to Russia
Slovak President Peter Pellegrini has called on EU members to reopen direct talks with Moscow, while stressing that NATO military spending should reflect national priorities rather than fears of Russia.'We need to start talking to the Russian Federation,' Pellegrini told TA3 television on Sunday. 'Let two or three leaders step up… for example, [Italian] Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.'He defended Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which had drawn criticism from several Western governments. The two leaders held talks in Moscow in May during WWII Victory Day commemorations, where they discussed bilateral ties and the Ukraine president also rejected NATO's push for a rapid military buildup.'It should not be fear of Russia that drives us into rearmament. We ourselves must decide what strength and condition we want our armed forces to be in,' he said. He added that the defense industry is unprepared for large-scale procurement and stressed that public views on Moscow vary across the bloc. 'Half of society may not even see Russia as a threat,' Pellegrini along with Italy and the UK, supported setting 2035 as the target year for meeting the alliance's goal of spending 5% of GDP on backed Fico's demand for energy security assurances before approving the EU's 18th sanctions package against Russia, saying he saw no reason to oppose the move if it served the country's national Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar echoed Pellegrini's position, stating that the Ukraine conflict cannot be solved militarily. Speaking to the local public broadcaster STVR, Blanar said peace requires renewed communication with Moscow.'Let us return to respect for international law and seek ways to communicate with the Russian Federation,' he said, adding that the West should also find a way to work with Russia, 'and perhaps even forgive everything that has happened.'Along with Hungary, Slovakia has been one of the few NATO members to call for the de-escalation of tensions with Russia.
