VIENNA, September 15. /TASS/. Russia scrutinized the report by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, and concurred with the conclusion that the power plant’s physical integrity is the most pressing issue at this moment, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said, speaking at Thursday’s IAEA Board of Governors meeting.
"We have carefully read the Director General’s report and the recommendations contained within [it]. We completely share the report’s main conclusion that the physical integrity of the power plant, which is being subjected to regular shelling, is the gravest problem right now," Ulyanov said, according to the transcript published on the Russian mission’s Telegram channel.
Moscow supports the idea that the Zaporozhye facility must not serve as a target, nor as a springboard for military attacks.
"It is an axiom for us, that applies not only to the Zaporozhye NPP, but to any nuclear power plant within the zone of an armed conflict. We hope that the Ukrainian side will officially confirm that it also proceeds from the abovementioned," Ulyanov added.
According to Ulyanov, there is no proper physical nuclear protection at the power plant.
"This includes, first and foremost, problems with the energy supply and the psychological state of the power plant’s staff, who have to fulfill their duties under constant Ukrainian shelling," the envoy noted.
The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, located near the city of Energodar, is currently controlled by Russian forces. The facility has been regularly shelled by Ukrainian armed forces of late. In early September, an IAEA mission led by Director General Rafael Grossi visited the station. Later, the Agency published a report calling for the establishment of a protection zone around the power plant in order to prevent a nuclear disaster caused by the ongoing hostilities.