Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, accused the British newspaper Financial Times of distorting his words about a possible visit by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
Ulyanov earlier in an interview with Izvestia, in response to a question about the timing of the visit of the head of the IAEA to the station, said that “no one will give an exact answer, including Grossi himself.” At the same time, the diplomat suggested that we could talk about the end of August – the beginning of September. The Financial Times then ran an article headlined “Russia rejects calls to allow access to Ukrainian nuclear power plant,” saying that Grossi’s visit to the Zaporizhzhya NPP was allegedly impossible before “the end of August or the beginning of September.”
The diplomat, relying on the title of the FT article, expressed confidence in his Telegram channel that it was a deliberate distortion of his statements.
Zaporozhye NPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the town of Energodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of power units (six) and capacity. ZNPP has been guarded by the Russian military since March. The Foreign Ministry stressed the justification for taking the Russian Armed Forces under the protection of the power plant from the point of view of preventing leaks of nuclear and radioactive materials.
Ukrainian troops have already attacked the territory of the nuclear power plant several times since the beginning of the special operation. Shelling has become more frequent since August 5. As a result, two power units do not operate at full capacity.
This week, Rogov, a member of the regional administration, admitted that UAF strikes on nuclear power plants could lead to a shutdown of the reactor and the station would not be able to generate electricity. In addition, he stressed that the shelling was carried out by servicemen of the 44th artillery brigade of the Ukrainian troops using guided missiles and Western-made shells.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, expressed concern over the shelling of the ZNPP. He plans to personally lead a mission of agency staff to visit the power plant. In addition, the United Nations hosted a meeting of the Security Council on the situation at nuclear power plants. According to Dmitry Polyansky, Deputy Representative of Russia at the organization, no one supported the Ukrainian version of the events taking place around the station.
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