MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. Ukraine has stepped up the use of its drones around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which raised the risk of an emergency, said Russia's envoy to international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov.
The situation "continues to be turbulent," he said on Rossiya-24 television in comments on the situation around the ZNPP. "The activity of drones now continues. It has increased exponentially. Our specialists are neutralizing these drones, but an emergency could occur at any moment."
Ulyanov also said Ukraine regularly strikes Energodar, the city that is home to plant employees and their families.
"In addition, and we talked about this at the IAEA Board of Governors session, there is a campaign of cyber bullying against the plant’s staff in Ukrainian social networks, where photos of the plant’s employees and their families are posted, and it is recommended to flee before it is too late. This is cyber bullying. It also affects people's psychological state," the diplomat went on to say.
He also said the IAEA "is avoiding in every possible way from putting [Ukraine's actions to intimidate ZNPP employees] into its reports and summaries."
"I have repeatedly personally handed [IAEA Director General Rafael] Grossi and his deputies these materials on paper to see what it actually looks like," the diplomat continued. "The agency is afraid to publish such data, to make any assessments, for which we criticized them, including at the session of the IAEA Board of Governors that was held last week. In general, I think that the presence of IAEA staff [at the plant] is useful not only for the agency, the international community, but also for Russia."
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has the capacity of about 6 GW and is Europe’s largest. It has been controlled by Russian troops since the end of February 2022. Ukraine has regularly shelled residential areas in Energodar and the plant since then, using artillery and drones.