MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Russia warns the Kiev regime against continuing provocations at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which are fraught with a disaster, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.
"We warn the Zelensky regime against continuing provocations at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant, which are fraught with a nuclear accident, with its possible consequences spreading far beyond Ukraine. We call on the international community for vigilance on this matter and for condemning the Kiev authorities’ actions," she said in a press statement.
She noted that the tense situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is being whipped up by the Ukrainian authorities, causes serious concern. "Of serious concern is the tense situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, which is being whipped up by the Ukrainian authorities, including by means of disseminating disinformation about allegedly adverse influence of Russian representatives on the plant’s security," she said.
According to the Russian diplomat, a joint visit to the plant by Russian representatives and a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) led by Director General Rafael Grossi was frustrated "due to the destructive policy of the UN secretariat, which refused to support the IAEA initiative under invented pretexts of poor security guarantees and inexpediency of such a visit."
It "played into the hands of the Kiev regime and its Western sponsors, who were not happy that the agency’s director general, experts and international representatives would have a possibility to see the real state of things at the Zaporozhye NPP and make sure it is operating routinely," Zakharova said.
She also noted that after the visit was cancelled "the number of Kiev’s armed provocations against the Zaporozhye nuclear plant has increased dramatically, with drone attacks at the plant’s territory and intimidation of its personnel."
She stressed that the Russian side "is behaving in a very responsible way in respect of Ukrainian nuclear facilities and is doing its best to ensure not only a due level of their nuclear and physical security but also maximum possible transparency on this matter."
"The Russian foreign ministry has repeatedly reported about these incidents to the IAEA," she noted. "Ukraine has actually blatantly violated all the seven nuclear security principles worded by the agency’s director general and has ignored the IAEA conference resolutions of 1985 and 1990, which say that any armed attack or a threat of an attack on nuclear units used in peaceful purposes constitute a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the IAEA Charter.".