This week, Russia, which systematically violates the norms of international humanitarian law and nuclear safety and security regulations, resorted to yet another manipulation, trying to present itself as a "victim" and accuse Ukraine of alleged provocations against nuclear safety and security, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry noted that the cynicism of Russian accusations lies in the fact that it was this very week that Russia committed another war crime – massive strikes on Ukraine's critical infrastructure, which killed and injured civilians and damaged our country’s energy system.
Russian strikes on power generation facilities caused the disconnection from the grid of the first, third, and fourth power units of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant. The capacity of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant was forcedly reduced to 1,800 MW, and subsequently, due to fluctuations caused by the Russian attack, its third power unit was also disconnected from the grid.
The impact of this week's strikes on Ukrainian energy sector is only the latest in a long list of Russian crimes, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed.
The Ministry recalled that it was Russian troops that seized Zaporizhzhya NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. On 4 March 2022, Russian occupiers attacked the plant with tank shells, destroying the Training centre and causing a fire on the territory of the plant.
In September of that same year, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi personally observed missile remnants in the satellite city of Enerhodar, which had been fired from the Russian-occupied territories.
Photographic and video evidence confirming the presence of Russian military personnel on the premises of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the placement of weapons and military equipment in the turbine halls, serves to illustrate that Russia does not consider it necessary to adhere not only to laws and customs of war, but also to fundamental principles of the safety of nuclear facilities.
The IAEA Mission, which has been stationed at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant at Ukraine's request since 2 September 2022, has repeatedly documented the presence of Russian military equipment and ammunition directly on the plant's premises. IAEA experts personally observed the Russian ammunition that poses a direct risk to nuclear safety.
In the course of the war it unleashed, Russia is brazenly violating the IAEA's seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security, as well as the five concrete principles for protecting the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, which can be applied to any other plant.
“The only threat to Europe's nuclear safety is Russian aggression against our country. Under these conditions, the aggressor state has intensified its disinformation campaign to divert attention from its own criminal actions at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant" the statement said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that the IAEA once again refuted Russian fakes regarding purported development of the so-called "dirty bomb" by Ukraine and other insinuations of Russian propaganda. Ukraine has been and remains committed to the norms and principles of nuclear safety and security.
In order to avoid risks and threats to nuclear safety, it is necessary, first of all, to implement the first point of the Peace Formula, which was supported by one hundred countries and international organizations during the first Peace Summit, as well as to return control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to its legitimate owner, Ukraine, as envisaged by numerous IAEA resolutions, the ministry said.