The IAEA has begun preparations for a new mission to the Zaporozhye NPP

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun preparations for the second mission to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), said Mikhail Ulyanov, permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna. But preparations have been slow so far due to the vacation of agency director Rafael Grossi, he said.

“Now the mission is being prepared anew. I understand that some preparatory work has begun at the IAEA, but so far it is not very active, because the agency’s director general Rafael Grossi is on vacation. Show up at work on Monday. Of course, impulses from him personally are required here, ”said the permanent representative (quote according to RIA Novosti).

At the end of July Grossi declaredthat the presence of the Russian military at the ZNPP leads to an extremely unstable situation. In his opinion, the transfer of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe under the control of Russia and the reports of the personnel about the use of violence against them is “a combination of violations of all possible safety rules that one can imagine.”

August 11 Russian Foreign Ministry warnedthat shelling by the Ukrainian military could lead to catastrophic consequences, on a scale exceeding the explosion at the plant in Chernobyl, and it could affect not only Russia and Ukraine, but also European countries. Similar statement on August 12 did Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. He noted that the responsibility for these consequences will lie with the presidents of Ukraine and the United States, Vladimir Zelensky and Joe Biden.

Also August 11 Russia demanded to hold a meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the attacks of the Ukrainian military on the Zaporozhye NPP. Despite this, the Foreign Ministers of the G7 (G7) demanded that Russia “immediately” return the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant to Ukrainian control. Later, August 12, 42 countries released a statement calling on Russia to withdraw its troops from the ZNPP territory. The signatories included Turkey, the United States, EU countries, Georgia, Canada, Australia and others.

August 15 VGA Zaporozhye region Vladimir Rogov proposed introduce a “silence regime” around the Zaporozhye NPP, as well as introduce “severe sanctions” in case of its violation.

ZNPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the city of Energodar. Four days after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, Russian troops took control of the station. As a result, Energodar and the Zaporizhzhya NPP were repeatedly shelled by the Ukrainian military. In recent days, the city and the station have been shelled daily from 11 to 14 August.

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