Russia says Ukraine’s actions at Zaporizhzhia NPP risk "nuclear disaster"

Moscow is “deeply concerned” by what it described as aggressive actions by Kyiv toward the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, saying they pose a real risk of a nuclear catastrophe in central Europe, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday, August 18.

“We express deep concern over the aggressive and malicious actions of the Kyiv regime, which continues provocations against the ZNPP, attacking the plant and its personnel virtually on a daily basis and creating a real threat of a nuclear catastrophe in the centre of Europe,” Zakharova said in a comment published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Zakharova said Ukraine’s latest “reckless step” was its alleged role in preventing a planned Aug. 20-21 visit by Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to the ZNPP and the nearby nuclear workers’ city of Enerhodar. The visit was intended to coincide with the next rotation of IAEA Secretariat experts at the plant.

“All the details had been worked out in advance by the IAEA Secretariat and the Russian side. We provided the necessary security guarantees, which fully satisfied the agency. However, Kyiv cynically threatened the IAEA director-general, directly stating that it could not guarantee his safety if he entered the ZNPP through Russian territory,” Zakharova said.

Under those circumstances, she said, “it is understandable that Grossi was forced to cancel his visit.”

Zakharova argued that the episode should lead the IAEA to acknowledge what Moscow has repeatedly claimed for several years: “Obviously, under the circumstances, the agency has no choice but to finally recognize that the threats to the ZNPP come precisely from Ukraine.”

She also accused Kyiv of repeatedly disrupting expert rotations at the plant, violating “ceasefire regimes” established to facilitate repair work on energy infrastructure directly affecting the safe operation of the facility, and attacking vehicles carrying representatives of the IAEA Secretariat.

Zakharova said such actions would not have been possible without continued political backing from Western countries for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“This only encourages the Kyiv regime to embark on new and increasingly reckless adventures and create nuclear safety threats that could have disastrous consequences for the entire world,” she said.

“All those who continue to keep silent about these actions by Ukraine, as well as those who provide material and political support to the Zelenskyy regime, are its accomplices and share responsibility for the acts it commits,” Zakharova said.

By Tamilla Hasanova