MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces blocked International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts from getting to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) for a regular staff rotation, forcing Russian servicemen to wait for them for several hours while under attack by drones, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
According to the diplomat, the rotation began as normal on early February 12, but then the movement of the organization’s members was abruptly blocked by the Ukrainian armed forces. "Russian servicemen had waited for the IAEA secretariat experts to arrive at the agreed place, all while being attacked by Ukrainian drones and under the threat of shelling, but the agency’s specialists never came. Since the situation in the meeting place was deteriorating, with risks too high for both Russian servicemen and the agency experts, once they came, a decision was made to move the Russian group tasked with ensuring the rotation out of the area. On their way back, the convoy, which included Russian troops and the IAEA specialists who were supposed to leave the ZNPP, was subjected to drone strikes and a mortar attack," she noted.
"At the same time, the Kiev regime has once again attempted to attack the ZNPP with UAVs. The distance between the crash site of one of the Ukrainian drones and the first power unit of the station was no more than 300 meters," the spokeswoman stressed.