The Russian aggression against Ukraine had undermined confidence of non-nuclear states to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and created a threat of recurrence of the nuclear catastrophe in our country, President Petro Poroshenko said as he ordered increased security measures at Ukrainian nuclear power stations on Tuesday.
“Let us not forget that hostilities were held in several hundred kilometers from the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Russia was preparing a full-scale war against Ukraine. At least, it planned military action and chaos in most parts of our country. Including the area of many dangerous sites. We resorted to enhanced security measures at nuclear power plants. At the moment, we protect them from possible attacks by terrorist and sabotage groups in the hybrid war,” Petro Poroshenko said during a visit to Chornobyl on Tuesday.
The head of state reminded that Ukrainian experts had shared their experience of physical protection of radioactive materials and nuclear objects from possible diversion in the course of the Nuclear Summit in USA. “I have stated at that Summit and now I repeat this – Russia deploys elements of its nuclear potential in the occupied Crimea. Together with our partners we should improve security guarantees for non-nuclear states,” the president noted.
Poroshenko is confident that the struggle against possible nuclear terrorism must be coordinated at the international level and drew attention to the possibility of occurrence of new cyber-threats.
Chornobyl NPP was decommissioned at the end of the last century, but the problem of overcoming consequences of the disaster is steal acute, the President warned. “It is a heavy burden of the Ukrainian people and we are still far from overcoming it,” the Head of State emphasized.
Poroshenko noted the importance of international support in that issue taking into account the scale of the tragedy and the aggression against Ukraine.
“In the current difficult times for Ukraine, international support is crucial. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, on behalf of the people of Ukraine, I would like to express sincere gratitude to the international organizations and financial institutions, states-donors and partners, civil organizations and all people who help overcome the consequences of one of the largest man-made disasters in the history of mankind,” the president said.
According to Petro Poroshenko, yesterday, international donors made a decision to contribute additional 87.5m euros to the implementation of the Chornobyl projects. Today, the documents on the allocation of additional funds for the completion of construction of the spent-fuel storage by the EBRD were signed.