The Ukrainian secret service has information that Russia is preparing an attack on the nuclear power plant, says Zelensky. And warns of far-reaching consequences. Meanwhile, the IAEA chief travels to Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again accused Russia of planning an “act of terrorism” in the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. “You have prepared everything for this,” said the head of state in a video on Thursday. The Ukrainian secret service SBU has information about it.
At the same time, Zelenskyy warned that such an attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant could have consequences far beyond Ukraine. “Radioactivity knows no borders,” he said.
On Wednesday, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, spoke of Russian preparations to blow up the cooling water pond at the power plant. The cooling systems of the nuclear waste interim storage facility and the shut down reactors receive water from this. Moscow has repeatedly denied such allegations. The nuclear power plant was occupied by Russia immediately after the invasion of the neighboring country 16 months ago.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), no mines were discovered on the site during the recent visit by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to Zaporizhia last week. “However, the IAEA is aware of earlier placements of mines outside the power plant (…) and sometimes also in places inside, which the plant’s security personnel justified with defense purposes,” it said in a statement.
IAEA chief travels to Russia
Meanwhile, according to Moscow, Grossi is traveling to Russia for talks on Friday. In the Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad, Grossi is planning to meet with the head of Moscow’s Rosatom nuclear agency, Alexei Lichatschow, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to the Russian agency Interfax. The IAEA did not initially confirm the meeting.
Grossi visited the power plant in the contested Zaporizhia region last week to get an idea of the security situation there after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. He described the situation as serious but stable. The largest European nuclear power plant had received its cooling water from the Kachowka reservoir, which has been losing water since the dam was destroyed.
Fresh water is needed to cool the decommissioned reactors and nuclear waste. There are still water reserves in the cooling ponds, which according to the IAEA are sufficient for several months. However, given the course of the war, experts from the IAEA and other organizations are concerned about the security and sustainability of this interim solution. Russia rejects Ukrainian demands for the power plant to be handed over.
Source: Stern
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