Moscow has accused Kiev of impeding a scheduled rotation of international monitors at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant
The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage allegedly showing a Ukrainian attack on a military convoy which was escorting UN inspectors to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Moscow accused Ukraine of launching the strikes to obstruct the scheduled rotation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
The IAEA stationed observers at the formerly Ukrainian facility in September 2022, months after it came under Russian control. The rotation of personnel necessitates Ukrainian cooperation, as Kiev requires international travelers to pass through Ukraine-controlled territory to reach the site. The exchange planned for Wednesday was canceled due to “intense military activity,” according to the IAEA.
The footage released by the Russian military depicts multiple assaults on the military convoy. A detailed account of the incident lists multiple distinct attacks involving four artillery shells, three mortar rounds, and five kamikaze drones. Images displayed in the video show shrapnel damage to armored vehicles, which the ministry claimed were transporting departing UN inspectors.
The IAEA did not assign blame to any party for the disruption of its mission. Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed disappointment over the canceled rotation, adding: “It is completely unacceptable that the safety of our staff is jeopardized in this way.”
Kiev has claimed that Russia attacked its own military personnel as part of a strategy of “nuclear blackmail,” alleging that Moscow is pressuring the IAEA to transport its staff to and from the ZNPP entirely via Russian territory.
During a regular briefing on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the latest incident underscores Ukraine’s unreliability and “terrorist nature.” Dmitry Polyansky, Moscow’s deputy ambassador to the UN, lamented in a recent interview that the IAEA has failed to “call a spade a spade and identify the obvious party behind all those reckless actions that pose the risk of a nuclear disaster.”
Polyansky said that the Ukrainian military frequently targets critical infrastructure associated with the ZNPP as well as the host city of Energodar, where plant employees reside. He also noted that Ukraine similarly obstructed an IAEA monitor rotation last December.
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