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Ukraine: Russia wants to destroy IAEA mission at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff today accused Russia of trying to sabotage a visit by a mission of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is under Russian control, noting that Russia bombed again today the area in which the station is located.

“The Russians bombed (the city of) Enerhodar and the area of ​​the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Andrei Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, noted in a Telegram message, accusing Russia of acting as a “terrorist state.”

The Zaporizhia station, located right next to Energodar, was seized by Moscow forces in March, but is still connected to the Ukrainian electricity grid and operated by employees of the Ukrainian state electricity company Energoatom.

The site of the nuclear plant has come under repeated shelling in the past month, for which Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other.

“Russia is responsible for everything that is happening at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and Enerhodar,” Yermak noted today and emphasized: “They want the visit of the IAEA mission to be wrecked.”

Minutes later, adviser to the Ukrainian president Mykhailo Podoliak also tweeted that Russia was carrying out “demonstration strikes” in Enerhodar in order to blame them on Ukraine.

“Russia is carrying out ostentatious strikes in Enerhodar, along the official route of the IAEA mission, in order to blame Ukraine for this,” Podoliak noted, adding that this is “an indication of (Russia’s) real ‘interest’ in inspection” of the nuclear power plant.

The IAEA’s mission is to assess the risks of ongoing hostilities in the region.

Russia’s defense ministry and a Moscow-backed local official have accused Ukraine of attempting to seize the Zaporizhia station, saying up to 60 Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnieper River in boats early this morning.

The Russian ministry added that “measures were taken” to neutralize Ukrainian soldiers, which included the use of military aviation.

Reuters has not yet been able to independently verify the information from either side.

Lavrov: Russia is doing everything it can for the safe operation of the nuclear power plant

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that Moscow is doing everything possible to ensure that Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant can operate safely and so that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s team can complete its work. who visits him.

Speaking at an event in Moscow, Lavrov said: “We are doing everything we can to guarantee that this station is safe, that it operates safely. And that the mission there goes ahead with all its plans.”

For its part, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced today that the situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is “difficult but remains fully under control”, following reports of shelling in the nearby town of Enerhodar.

In a post on Telegram, the ministry noted that it is still ready to guarantee the safety of the IAEA mission, despite the efforts of the “Kiev regime”, as it described it, to cause problems for the visit.

Earlier Kyiv accused Moscow of trying to sabotage the IAEA visit by bombing the area near the nuclear plant.

For its part, Russia claimed that a “sabotage group” of the Ukrainian army crossed the Dnieper River with the aim of seizing the nuclear plant.

The nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia was seized by the Russian military in March and the surrounding area has since been repeatedly bombed, with one side blaming the other.

SOURCE: APE-ME

Source: Capital

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