MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Ukraine's provocation with the shelling of Russian security guards covering the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors was aimed at replacing the issue of creating a safety zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, discussed by Russia with the organization, with the idea of demilitarizing the facility, in which Ukraine is interested, Rosenergoatom CEO adviser Renat Karchaa said.
"It seems to me that behind these foul games aimed at escalation of the situation around the Zaporozhye NPP and bringing the topic to the forefront there is a task to lead us to negotiations on the demilitarization zone. This version seems the most likely to me," he said during a Soloviev Live TV broadcast. "Ukraine is not interested in the topic of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as such, the topic of nuclear safety in general," the Rosenergoatom CEO adviser said. According to him, for Kiev, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plan is merely an instrument to solve problems far from nuclear power, political and military tasks; it is nothing but a tool to manipulate public opinion, especially in the West.
"They are trying, by shaping public opinion in this way, to lead us to a story called 'demilitarization zone'," Karchaa stressed. In his opinion, the safety issues of the Zaporozhye NPP should be solved by introducing a moratorium on shelling in the area of its location with the obligatory definition of responsibility for the violation of such an agreement. "It was possible to declare a moratorium on any artillery activity around the area of Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, around Energodar," the adviser said, "This moratorium should not be taken as the Minsk agreements, when it seemed to have been agreed upon and then Ukraine was not responsible for the failure of these agreements."
Karchaa told TASS on Friday that Ukraine staged a gross provocation by violating the agreements and opening fire on Russian security forces who were ensuring the safety of IAEA experts during a crossing in the gray zone in the Zaporozhye Region. He earlier reported that Russian security officers came under targeted fire in the grey zone when they met the agency's inspectors who were rotating at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated in early December that an agreement to establish a safety zone around the the Zaporozhye plant could be reached soon. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev earlier noted that the safety model discussed with Grossi ruled out any shelling of the facility. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side puts forward a demand to demilitarize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, implying the withdrawal of Russian guards from it.