Russia's destructive position hinders visit of IAEA mission to ZNPP – Ukraine's Permanent Rep to UN

KYIV. Aug 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Since the beginning of Russia’s occupation of Zaporizhia NPP in early March, Ukraine has always stressed the importance of the IAEA’s full implementation of its mandate and insisted on the need to send an agency mission to the station, coordinating the necessary conditions with it, but the destructive position of the Russian Federation has become an obstacle in this way, said Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsia.

"We deeply regret that such a visit has not yet taken place. Because of Russia’s destructive position. Despite public statements, the occupiers resorted to manipulations and unreasonable conditions of the mission’s visit, as well as to the shelling of nuclear power plants and Enerhodar, which made the visit impossible so far," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday night.

Kyslytsia stressed that Ukraine strongly rejects Russia’s attempts to evade responsibility for the delay of the mission and its accusations against the UN Secretary General and the UN Secretariat.

The Permanent Representative noted that the current situation prompted Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba to reiterate the extreme importance of the IAEA mission in his letter dated August 9 to the Director General of the agency and the UN Secretary General. In this regard, Ukraine welcomes the readiness of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to lead such a mission to the NPP, added Kyslytsia.

At the same time, he pointed out that all actions should be carried out in strict accordance with the national legislation of Ukraine and in full compliance with international obligations.

"We are ready to provide the mission with all necessary assistance and facilitate its passage through the territory controlled by Ukraine," the permanent representative stressed.

He clarified that the distance between the government-controlled right bank of the Dnipro river and the NPP is five miles, so the Russian Federation should stop shelling cities, especially Marhanets and Nikopol, on the right bank of Dnipro, for which they use the station site as a cover.

Kyslytsia also stated the extreme importance of the presence of qualified military experts in the mission, as well as representatives of the UN. The representative of Ukraine explained that they will be able to make a significant contribution to the preparation of the final report of the mission, which will outline the military aspect of critical threats and challenges to nuclear safety at the NPP site arising from its occupation and militarization by the Russian armed forces.

The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN once again stated that the recent shelling of the station and the adjacent Enerhodar are a provocation of Russian troops, citing relevant evidence.

According to him, Russia’s plans are aimed at disconnecting nuclear power plants from the power grid of Ukraine and turning off electricity in the south of the country.

Kyslytsia once again stressed that Russia should immediately cease all actions against nuclear facilities in Ukraine and return control over all seized nuclear facilities to the Ukrainian side, and the international community should continue political pressure on Russia to fulfill these requirements.