Foreign Ministry responds to IAEA statement on attacks near Zaporizhzhia NPP
Illustrative photo: the Foreign Ministry responded to the IAEA statement on attacks near the Zaporizhzhia NPP (GettyImages)
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has responded to the IAEA’s statement on the situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP, saying that Russia continues to use the plant as a tool of war, according to the Foreign Ministry’s press service.
The Foreign Ministry’s statement notes that, according to IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, agency representatives recently recorded a series of artillery salvos on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP that lasted for over an hour. The strike was carried out in areas near the plant itself.
The MFA views this as further evidence that Russian forces are deliberately using high-risk facilities to shield their attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. At the same time, Ukraine has limited capacity to respond due to the risk of a nuclear catastrophe.
The ministry recalled that such attacks have repeatedly damaged critical infrastructure, including power transmission lines essential for the plant’s operation. These incidents pose a threat not only to Ukraine but to all of Europe.
The MFA urged the international community to take more decisive action, stressing that the militarization of the Zaporizhzhia NPP constitutes a form of nuclear terrorism. The statement also demands increased pressure on Russia to achieve the full demilitarization of the plant, its de-occupation, and transfer to the control of the Ukrainian operator, Energoatom.
Incidents at Zaporizhzhia NPP
Russian forces occupied the plant in March 2022, stationing large amounts of weapons and equipment there. By the end of 2022, all reactors had been placed in cold shutdown mode.
Although the plant is no longer generating electricity, the site and surrounding areas have repeatedly seen incidents such as fires, drone flights over reactor domes, and outages of power lines that supply the facility’s own needs.
On July 19, smoke was reported in the area due to a forest fire.
On July 29, reports appeared online alleging elevated radiation levels in the Zaporizhzhia region after wind shifted from the direction of the plant, but Ukraine’s Interior Ministry denied any radiation spike.
In recent days, the IAEA has also recorded explosions and rising smoke in the vicinity of the nuclear facility.
