What exactly happened
For the first time, the IAEA rotated its mission at the occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP through Kremlin-controlled territories of Ukraine. In other words, the agency did not coordinate its actions with the Ukrainian authorities.
Russian state propagandists were the first to report this, followed by European media. At the end of February, Brussels-based Radio Liberty journalist Ricard Juzwiak suggested that the IAEA mission could be rotated through occupied Crimea.
“A bold move by Rafael Grossi, who is seeking to become the next UN Secretary-General,” the journalist wrote.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the actions of several IAEA employees a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. At the same time, the agency stated that the incident was the result of Russian provocations.
“Russia effectively forced IAEA staff to stay at the station without rotation for 80 days - significantly longer than planned - keeping them under unprecedented psychological pressure in a high-risk area. Moscow effectively deprived international experts of freedom of movement and used them as an instrument of political pressure on the international community,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
The Ukrainian government stressed that it had repeatedly offered a safe and legal route for the IAEA experts to rotate through territory controlled by Kyiv. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that Ukraine does not view the actions of the International Atomic Energy Agency as a rotation but rather as a humanitarian “evacuation in the face of a threat to the lives and health of agency employees.”
However, Ukraine has sent a note of protest to the IAEA and warned the organisation against allowing similar situations in the future. The issue of Russian blackmail will also be raised at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.
“Nothing has changed after this rotation. The IAEA has not recognised Zaporizhzhya NPP as Russian. I just find the organisation’s behaviour predictable. It continues to work with Russian representatives in its governing bodies. And, unfortunately, all the information provided by the Ukrainian side is effectively passed on to Russian intelligence,” said energy industry expert Hennadiy Ryabtsev.
The Russians have been preparing for several months
Since the beginning of the year, Russia has repeatedly disrupted the IAEA mission’s rotations to the occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which Ukraine attempted to conduct through its controlled territory.
The last such incident occurred on 12 February, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russians turned it into a public spectacle, using pressure, threats, and provocations. At first, the Kremlin refused to approve the mission’s rotation for a long time. Eventually, it signalled its readiness, but an hour before the mission arrived, Russian forces opened fire. Later, Russian representatives emerged with white flags and again declared their “readiness to rotate.” This happened multiple times.
Similar Russian provocations occurred on 5 February, when the Kremlin also disrupted the international mission’s rotation. The very next day, IAEA experts recorded explosions and machine-gun fire near the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
“By organising such provocations, Russia is trying to force the IAEA to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and send international experts to ZNPP through the temporarily occupied territories. At the same time, Moscow is blackmailing the Agency by completely blocking the mission’s work. Russian pressure on the IAEA is unacceptable, and we demand that the international community defend the Agency against Russian blackmail,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyy.
Russian forces occupied the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in March 2022. Its reactors are in a state of cold shutdown, meaning the plant does not generate electricity for external use. Russia has repeatedly staged provocations around the plant, even attacking its territory. Since the beginning of the occupation, ZNPP has suffered around a dozen complete blackouts.
Last July, Russia illegally registered a military unit of the Russian Guard at the occupied ZNPP. However, even before that, Kremlin soldiers and heavy military equipment were present at the plant. In effect, Russia has turned this dangerous energy facility into a military base.
“The invaders’ lack of competent, qualified, and licensed personnel, combined with the transformation of ZNPP into a military base, makes it impossible for the plant to operate without incident,” Energoatom said in a statement.
What the IAEA says
The International Atomic Energy Agency called the rotation, which was not agreed upon with Kyiv, an emergency measure. It claimed this action was taken to protect the lives and health of its workers.
The IAEA insists it did coordinate its actions with Ukraine, stating that it discussed the matter with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.
Most importantly, Rafael Grossi emphasised that the IAEA is not trying to legitimise the Russian occupation of ZNPP.
“The only thing that prompted us to make such an extraordinary rotation is that I am responsible for the safety of my staff. This is an exception, and the only reason behind it is to protect the lives of specialists—nothing else,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
He also reminded the public that in December last year, IAEA experts were caught in a drone attack while attempting a routine rotation of the international mission at Zaporizhzhya NPP.
However, the IAEA’s actions do not resemble an evacuation of specialists stranded at a nuclear power plant beyond the usual time limit. Neither the organisation’s report nor the Ukrainian government’s statements indicate that the mission has ceased its work. Instead, the previous group of experts was evacuated, and new observers arrived at the occupied plant.
The IAEA leadership’s claim that it discussed the rotation with Ukrainian authorities is surprising. First, neither the president nor the foreign minister has publicly confirmed such conversations. Secondly, the Ukrainian government has strongly criticised the IAEA’s actions - not just with a note of protest from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Ukraine reiterates its firm position that any rotation of IAEA experts to ZNPP should be carried out in full compliance with international law and exclusively via routes agreed with the Ukrainian authorities, through territories under the full control of Ukraine,” stated a letter to the IAEA from Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
The Mission of Ukraine to the International Organisations in Vienna stressed that the IAEA had made a grave mistake.
“By bending to Russia, Grossi plunged the IAEA into a crisis, demonstrating a blatant disregard for Ukraine’s sovereignty and the United Nations Charter. This is unprecedented in the history of the nuclear agency. Director Grossi capitulated to Russia’s blackmail and gave Moscow exactly what it wanted - a de facto illegal recognition that Russia has formal control over the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant,” said Jan Vande Putte, nuclear energy specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine.
The organisation is convinced that Russia is trying to persuade the IAEA to allow the restart of nuclear reactors at the occupied ZNPP. The Kremlin has repeatedly announced such plans. By doing so, Russia could expose the entire world to a nuclear disaster, as the technical condition of the reactors after three years of occupation remains unknown.
“The IAEA’s actions could be an exception - if this were really just an evacuation. That is, if they had removed the workers and ended the mission. But in reality, three new experts arrived through the occupied territories. By the way, we know nothing about them - who are they? And another question arises: how will they carry out the next rotation - again through Crimea? Ukraine should stop this mission. We should say thank you and that’s all,” said Olha Kosharna, co-founder of the Anti-Crisis Nuclear Expert Centre of Ukraine.
How Ukraine benefits from IAEA missions
The International Atomic Energy Agency experts first visited the Russian-occupied ZNPP in early September 2022. However, assessing the effectiveness of this mission is difficult. IAEA staff cannot move freely around the plant and remain under constant Russian military control. This has been repeatedly stated by both the Ukrainian government and independent international organisations.
“Mr Grossi is just a political appointee - he knows nothing about nuclear safety or nuclear technology in general. He has neither the education nor the work experience. At the IAEA, many decisions are made by his first deputy, the Russian Mikhail Chudakov. In total, the organisation employs more than a hundred Russians. Nothing has changed there in three years,” said Volodymyr Omelchenko, director of energy programmes at the Razumkov Centre.
In addition to the occupied ZNPP, IAEA experts are also present at all other Ukrainian nuclear power plants located in free territory. On the one hand, this presence debunks much of Russia’s propaganda about Ukrainian nuclear energy, as all processes are taking place under international supervision. On the other hand, Russia still has significant influence over the International Atomic Energy Agency itself.
Last autumn, the Ukrainian government reached an agreement with the IAEA to allow monitoring missions to visit Ukrainian substations near nuclear power plants. These facilities have been repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles and drones, sometimes leading to the shutdown of nuclear power plant units. At that time, the IAEA expressed concern - but little more.
International experts did visit high-voltage substations and recorded evidence of damage, but this did not prevent further attacks.
Meanwhile, Rosatom - Russia’s state nuclear corporation - has continued its global activities without interruption and remains unsanctioned. According to the Dixi Group think tank, since the start of the full-scale invasion, this Russian company has signed more than 70 new deals.