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IAEA cannot say out loud that Ukrainian armed forces are shelling Zaporozhye NPP — envoy

The Russian envoy labeled the reluctance to point out those responsible for potential nuclear safety hazards at the Zaporozhye NPP as the key drawback of the IAEA summary report

MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are aware that the Ukrainian military is shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, but the agency cannot say it out loud, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said in a televised interview with Rossiya-24 news channel on Wednesday.

"Having visited that plant, the IAEA [mission] members must know very well that shelling is being conducted by Ukrainians, but apparently the agency cannot afford to say it out loud," he said.

Ulyanov also described the IAEA report as "technical."

"In fact, President [Vladimir Putin] was right to refer to the IAEA as a professional technical organization," he added. "Our counterparts from the IAEA tried to present a technical report. It does not have any political elements, but a lot of technical things."

The Russian envoy labeled the reluctance to point out those responsible for potential nuclear safety hazards at the Zaporozhye NPP as the key drawback of the IAEA summary report published after the agency’s expert mission to the Zaporozhye NPP.

Recently, the Ukrainian army has been regularly shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power using heavy weapons. Moreover, Ukrainian troops attempted a landing at the plant from the nearby water reservoir. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, one of the attempts was aimed at retaking the ZNPP prior to the IAEA mission’s visit. In the report released on Tuesday, the IAEA called for establishing a security zone around the ZNPP to prevent any accidents that might be caused by hostilities.