The situation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, controlled by the Russians since the beginning of March, is “volatile”warned yesterday the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is trying to send a mission to the plant.
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“The situation is really volatile,” declared Argentine Rafael Mariano Grossi at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, which has been hosting the tenth conference of the 191 signatory states of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons since Monday. (NPT).
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“All security principles have been violated in one way or another. And we cannot allow it to continue to happen,” she added.
At the opening of the meeting on Monday, he had stressed that the situation “was becoming more dangerous every day.” For weeks, Grossi has been trying to send a mission to inspect the plant.
But so far, Ukraine has rejected such a mission because, in its opinion, it would legitimize the Russian occupation of the plant, the Ukrainian operator Energoatom explained a few weeks ago.
“Surrendering to the place is very complex because the agreement and cooperation of various actors is needed”, in particular Ukraine and Russia, and the support of the UN, as it is a war zone, Grossi said. “I’m trying to get a mission up and running as soon as possible,” he added.
This week, the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, accused Russia of using this plant, the largest in Europe, “as a military base to shoot at the Ukrainians, knowing that they cannot respond because they would run the risk of reaching a nuclear reactor or highly radioactive waste.
The pro-Russian army in the Zaporizhia region, however, lashed out at the US rhetoric.
“This statement is of the type ‘the thief thinks that everyone is of his condition. Precisely the United States, by supplying weapons to Ukraine, is the accomplice of the attacks of the regime of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky against the nuclear power plant, ”said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the local military administration.
According to what the pro-Russian affirmed to the RIA Novosti agency, Blinken seeks to avoid the responsibility of his country.
“USA The US and the Zelensky regime block any truth about what is happening in the Zaporizhia region. For our part, we invite IAEA representatives to come to Energodar,” he added.
Evacuation in Donetsk
Meanwhile, on the ground, the mandatory evacuation of the population from the areas it controls in the Donetsk region began yesterday, in order to prevent the upsurge in fighting on that eastern front.
In turn, Russian troops claim to have gained territory in the Mykolaiv and Kharkov regions, where their forces caused “up to 500 deaths,” according to Moscow.
However, kyiv reports progress in the Kherson region, to the south, where the release of 53 towns has been “confirmed”.
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