MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could see that attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant came from Ukraine but it evades the fact because of US pressure, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said in an interview with TASS.
"Certainly, after a visit to the Zaporozhye NPP and the deployment of two employees to the facility, the agency could clearly see that attacks came from Ukraine. However, official reports evade this aspect. I believe that it’s mostly the result of pressure from the US and its allies, but not just that," he noted.
The IAEA is unwilling to name the one to blame for shelling the Zaporozhye NPP but if a safety zone around the facility is agreed to, the issue will need to be addressed, Ulyanov stressed.
"The agency’s specific mandate is the reason as it does not directly include the attribution power, that is, the power to identify those responsible for illegal actions against nuclear facilities. I think that if efforts are made to agree to a zone of nuclear and physical nuclear safety at and around the Zaporozhye NPP, if [IAEA Director General Rafael] Grossi’s initiative gets an impetus, the issue will have to be addressed," the Russian envoy said.
The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, located in the city of Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. An IAEA mission led by Grossi visited the facility in early September and two of its members remained at the site as observers. The IAEA later published a report calling for the creation of a safety zone around the plant to prevent accidents caused by military activities.