MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s allegation that Russia was preparing an act of terrorism at the Zaporozhye NPP was a lie.
"That’s another lie. You know there has just been a communication with the IAEA on the ground there. A fairly high assessment by the IAEA. They saw everything, everything they wanted to see," he said.
Peskov said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev are scheduled to hold talks in the near future.
"Our dialogue and cooperation with the IAEA continue. We are interested in this communication to carry on. And the IAEA is also interested. Everything else is a lie," the spokesman said.
A few hours after reports emerged that Grossi would come to Kaliningrad to meet with Likhachev on Friday, Zelensky warned the US, Brazil, China, India, the countries of Europe, the Middle East and Africa that Russia allegedly was preparing an act of terrorism at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. He said he had received the information from the Ukrainian Security Service and the country’s intelligence service, but he has not provided any evidence.
"Our intelligence has received information that Russia is considering a scenario for a terrorist act at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. A terrorist act with a release of radiation," he said in a video posted to Telegram. "We are passing on all available information to our partners <...>. Europe, America, China, Brazil, India, the Arab world, Africa - all countries, absolutely everyone should know this, international organizations, absolutely everyone."
Visit of IAEA mission to ZNPP
An IAEA mission led by Grossi traveled to the ZNPP on June 15. The head of the international agency was shown the splash pools, a cooling pond, the condition of the valves and the consequences of Ukrainian shelling on the plant, including the premises of the Zaporozhye thermal power plant, which is an integral part of the NPP.
The IAEA director general said at a news conference following the visit that the mission’s main goal was to assess the situation after the breach of the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and how its collapse affected the ZNPP. Grossi said ZNPP management had taken the necessary measures to stabilize the situation at the plant in the new conditions. He said the mission of IAEA inspectors will continue working at the ZNPP.