The invaders are trying to turn the IAEA mission into a fruitless tour of the station. The President expressed regret that independent journalists were not allowed on the station, which was agreed upon.
The Russian invaders are trying to turn the IAEA mission’s visit to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant into a fruitless excursion. They also made efforts to deceive the delegation, including by threatening residents of Energodar. This was announced on the evening of Thursday, September 1, by President Volodymyr Zelensky in his video message.
He welcomed the visit of the mission to the ZNPP, which took place despite all the provocations of the Russian invaders and the shelling of Energodar and the territory of the plant.
“Ukraine has done everything to ensure that this mission takes place. But it is bad that the occupiers are trying to make this IAEA mission a fruitless tour of the station,” said Zelensky.
He said that the delegation had the opportunity to make objective conclusions about the dangers that have arisen in the ZNPP due to the invaders.
“The main thing is to have the will to draw certain objective conclusions – continuous shelling, the presence of the Russian military and weapons on the station, mockery of Ukrainian personnel and attempts to put the station under control of representatives of Rosatom, who in general are not capable of a responsible attitude in such a matter. These are the reasons for the threats “said Zelensky.
He added that Ukraine has evidence that Russia did many cynical things to deceive the mission, including threatening residents of Energodar.
“The occupiers forced people to lie to IAEA representatives, hand over some papers, sign something, say something,” the president said.
Zelensky also noted that in a meeting with the IAEA Director General, he agreed on the mandatory support of the mission of independent journalists from Ukrainian and international media. However, this was not done despite the promises.
“Unfortunately, the occupiers did not let the journalists in, but organized a mass meeting of their propagandists. Unfortunately, the representatives of the IAEA did not protect the representatives of the independent media,” he said.
The President hopes that the mission will still draw objective conclusions from the events at ZNPP.
“And the main thing that needs to happen is the demilitarization of the territory of the station. This is the specific goal of Ukrainian and international efforts. And it is bad that we have not yet heard the appropriate calls from the IAEA. Although we have we discussed this with Mr. Grossi at our meeting in Kyiv. This is a key – key! – security point of our agreements: demilitarization and full control of our nuclear scientists,” Zelensky stressed.
The President added that the Zaporozhye NPP will be able to return to fully safe operation, which will always be under the control of Ukraine, after the withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of provocations by invaders and shelling of Energodar and neighbors that region.
It will be recalled that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the IAEA mission found “important things” in the first hours of the visit. One of the ZNPP employees described the visit to the IAEA mission as a “circus”, noting that the occupiers did not allow the mission employees to talk privately with the power plant workers.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.