MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Russia is urging all countries to exert their influence on Ukraine and get them to stop shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.
"This (the shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP by Ukraine - TASS) cannot but be a cause for our concern, and it should be of the utmost concern for the IAEA," the Kremlin official said. He added that Moscow sees the International Atomic Energy Agency’s urgency on this matter.
"We are urging all countries in the world to use their influence so that the Ukrainian armed forces stop doing this," Peskov stressed.
Putin’s press secretary called for objectivity when discussing the shelling of the nuclear facility. "If one says ‘multiple bombardments were recorded,' it is necessary to be objective and constructive and finish the sentence with ‘the bombardments of the plant’s premises by the Ukrainian armed forces’," he noted.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian armed forces resumed shelling at the nuclear plant after a two-month hiatus, on November 19-20 alone they launched at least 25 shells at the nuclear facility with one of them hitting the roof of special building No. 2 where nuclear fuel is stored. The agency added that the gunmen were suppressed with retaliatory fire and the radiation background at the facility was normal.
Following the new bombardments of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi held a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, the BFM TV channel reported citing a source in the Elysee Palace. Later, Grossi said that he was going to visit Russia and Ukraine again to ensure the nuclear plant’s safety. According to him, the organization’s inspectors will visit the power plant on Monday morning if the situation allows. According to their information, the plant was affected but its reactors were not damaged.