Russian occupiers are staging provocative shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to blame Ukraine and thereby remove the necessity of de-occupying the nuclear facility from the agenda.
This was stated by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsia, during a UN Security Council meeting on April 15.
The ambassador referred to the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on April 7 and 9 and thereafter as a "well-planned operation under a false flag by the Russian Federation." Its purpose is to accuse Ukraine of the attacks and remove the de-occupation issue from the agenda.
"With this goal in mind, the Russians want to 'feed the world' the version that nuclear reactors, the protection of which was designed to withstand the most powerful strikes, were attacked by low-power drones with FPV blocks. This extensive disinformation campaign by the Russian Federation is also an attempt to instrumentalize the presence of the IAEA for propaganda purposes," said Ukraine's ambassador to the UN.
He also added that as a result of Russia's criminal actions at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, each of the seven "integral pillars of the IAEA's nuclear and physical nuclear safety" was violated, as well as most of the five principles contributing to ensuring nuclear and physical nuclear safety at the station.
Kyslytsia noted that the escalating militarization of the station and adjacent territories occupied by Russia remain part of the Kremlin's military strategy - Moscow uses them as a cover for artillery strikes on territories and settlements on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River.
Specifically, the ambassador said that Russian shelling regularly leads to power outages outside the station. He listed violations by Russia, including: laying antipersonnel mines around the station perimeter, blocking access for legitimate management and personnel to the facility, disconnecting the automated data transmission from the radiation monitoring system, and failing to provide timely and complete technical maintenance.
"In light of the situation, Ukraine confirms that the only way out of the current 'very fragile' situation is the complete demilitarization and de-occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and adjacent territories. This is a key prerequisite for restoring not only nuclear safety but also respect for international law. Returning the station under full Ukrainian control is the only guarantee of nuclear and radiation safety," Kyslytsia said.
He called on the international community to strongly condemn Russian provocations at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and join the implementation of the "Peace Formula" proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, one of the important points of which is the restoration of nuclear and radiation safety.
"Ukraine also calls on all our partners to increase pressure on the aggressor state, including by imposing sanctions against the nuclear energy sector, in order to prevent further Russian provocations at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and contribute to the de-occupation of the station," concluded Kyslytsia.
