Moscow entered into negotiations with the IAEA on the creation of a physical and nuclear security protection zone at the ZNPP

Moscow is discussing with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the creation of a protective zone near the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in the Russian-controlled part of the Zaporozhye region. This was stated by Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov. “As part of the creation of a physical and nuclear security protection zone at ZNPP, it is necessary to provide for international monitoring of compliance with the agreements. And it must be effective, otherwise the declaration will remain empty paper. We are also discussing this issue with the IAEA Secretariat,” Ulyanov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Ulyanov’s statement came after Aleksey Likhachev, director general of the state corporation Rosatom, on November 21, warned of the risk of a nuclear accident at the ZNPP amid shelling. Hits on the territory of the ZNPP resumed on November 19 and 20. The official representative of the Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, said that on November 19, the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) fired 11 large-caliber shells at the ZNPP territory. On the morning of November 20, Ukrainian troops again shelled the territory of the nuclear power plant twice, Konashenkov added. From 09:15 to 09:45, 12 large-caliber artillery shells were fired, eight of them exploded between the fifth power unit and special building No. 2, three hit between the fourth and fifth power units, and one hit the roof of special building No. 2, where fresh nuclear fuel is stored. From 10.00 to 10.10, two shells were fired along the power line that feeds the power plant.

The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, called for an “immediate end” to the shelling of the station, without naming their initiator. Prior to that, on November 17, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution calling on Russia to abandon its claims to the ZNPP, withdraw all military and civilian personnel from its territory and transfer control to Ukraine. According to Ulyanov, “Kyiv took this, apparently, as a de facto carte blanche for the resumption of shelling of the ZNPP.” On November 23, Grossi held talks with the head of Rosatom, Likhachev, on the situation around the station. Ukraine and Western countries have pushed for “demilitarization” and the return of the station to Kyiv’s control since it came under Russian control in the spring.

The presence of even a minimum number of agency observers at the ZNPP made it possible to minimize the number of shelling, and the head of the IAEA, Grossi, to have his own information from the site, Alexander Uvarov, editor-in-chief of the Atominfo resource, told Vedomosti. On September 2, Ulyanov spoke about the fact that two observers from the IAEA will work at the ZNPP on a permanent basis. “But IAEA observers and the organization itself, due to their purely technical specialization, are not authorized to disclose information about the initiators of the shelling,” Uvarov says. The expert believes that Russia is interested in the appearance of a mission of observers directly from the UN with broader powers, including the identification of the initiators of the shelling. In addition, the work of observers under the auspices of the UN will make it possible to enlarge the mission. The UN already has experience in supervising nuclear facilities in cooperation with the IAEA, for example, in Iraq, Uvarov notes.

However, as Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, told TASS, the involvement of international organizations in the management of the ZNPP carries risks: “They will still be replaced or knocked out by Ukrainian [силами]. And what will be the demand from international organizations? The answer is none. And Russia, of course, will not shoot at the nuclear power plant.” IAEA pulled back [от оценки того, кто обстреливает ЗАЭС], but I would not like the attacks to continue, Svetlana Zhurova, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told Vedomosti. “We, Russia, need the confirmation of international institutions so that the international community can see that we are not doing this,” she said. Chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs Leonid Kalashnikov told Vedomosti that he was “not competent enough” to assess Russia’s actions to ensure the security of the ZNPP.