Grossi ignores 'elephant in the room' in Zaporizhzhia nuke plant situation - Russian envoy

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi prefers not to notice the situation with Ukrainian shelling attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

The diplomat noted that the IAEA chief is being very cautious about the issue of attacks on the nuclear facility. "As they say in New York, this is like an ‘elephant in the room’ that everyone tries not to notice. And Mr. Grossi is trying the hardest," he said.

Grossi had earlier proposed that the UN Security Council endorse five principles for the security of the ZNPP, namely not to allow an attack on or from the plant; not to deploy heavy weapons or military personnel that could be used to attack the plant; not to endanger the plant’s power supply; to protect all structures and systems that ensure the safe operation of the plant; and to take no actions that might undermine these principles.

On April 5-9, Ukrainian troops delivered several strikes on the ZNPP’s premises. In the area of the cargo port and the nitrogen-oxygen station, a truck that had just delivered food to a canteen was damaged and three people were injured. One of the drones hit the roof of Unit 6. Later, another Ukrainian kamikaze drone was downed over the nuke plant, and its debris fell on the roof of the same power unit. On April 9, the ZNPP's press service reported that the building housing the world's only full-scale reactor hall simulator was attacked.