VIENNA, June 8. /TASS/. The leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has opted to ignore the incident with the drone attack on Russian field engineers engaged in mine-clearing works before repairs of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) power line, Russian Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said.

"In fact, there has been no reaction. The agency’s approach is to sweep everything under the rug in the hope that the situation will resolve itself. That’s basically what happened," he replied when asked by reporters to comment on the IAEA’s actions following the incident.

Russian servicemen demonstrated courage and valor and continued mine clearance works. "But what surprised me was that the agency avoided making clear assessments. As a matter of fact, it was responsible for ensuring compliance with the ceasefire. Strictly speaking, the guarantees were provided by the Ukrainians, but the mediator, as the [IAEA] director general calls himself, acted as if he had nothing to do with it and bore no responsibility. As if to say, we just need to continue the repair works, since electricity is truly essential at the station," the diplomat noted.

According to Ulyanov, Friday’s incident was the first case when the IAEA ceasefire guarantees were breached, although it was the fifth localized truce organized by the agency to carry out power line repair works.

"Well, it would be wrong to say that the IAEA is absolutely ineffective. Still, I would like to see the Secretariat’s leadership respond to incidents in a more objective and appropriate manner," he added.