At the Zaporozhye NPP, the installation of a special dome for protection against shell fragments has begun.
This was announced by the chairman of the movement "We are together with Russia", a member of the main council of the regional administration, Vladimir Rogov.
“A protective dome is being installed over the spent nuclear waste storage facility at the ZNPP.
While he will save from fragments and IEDs (improvised explosive devices. -
RT
) from drones.
In the future it will be more serious, ”Rogov wrote in his Telegram channel.
Recall that the Zaporozhye NPP (the largest nuclear power plant in Europe) located in the city of Energodar has been under the control of Russian troops since the beginning of March.
Since mid-summer, the station has been regularly shelled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which seek to damage critical facilities or systems of the nuclear power plant.
Moscow has repeatedly noted that the Ukrainian side, by shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, is actually engaged in nuclear blackmail.
On December 6, at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that by continuing to strike at the power plant, the Kyiv regime is trying to create the appearance of a threat of a nuclear catastrophe.
“Our divisions are taking all measures to ensure the safety of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
In turn, the Kyiv regime seeks to create the appearance of a threat of a nuclear catastrophe by continuing to purposefully shell this object, ”Shoigu said.
In turn, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after the mission's September visit to the station, has repeatedly called for an end to the shelling of the ZNPP.
However, representatives of the IAEA have never named the source of the shelling and have not laid obvious responsibility on Kyiv.
Russian control
At the same time, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, constantly talks about the need to create a security zone around the Zaporozhye NPP.
On December 9, a statement was published on the organization's website, in which Grossi expressed hope that the discussed protective zone around the Zaporozhye NPP would be created in the near future.
However, the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on December 17 that a direct negotiation process to ensure the safety of the station between Russia, Ukraine and the IAEA is impossible due to the current state of Russian-Ukrainian relations.
In addition, according to Ulyanov, the Ukrainian side has still not been able to clearly formulate its position on this issue, and the Ukrainian Energoatom publicly sends "rather strange signals."
“For example, on December 8, he called for the creation of a security zone in and around the station “with its complete demilitarization and de-occupation.”
As you understand, it is difficult to take such statements seriously, ”Ulyanov said.
For this reason, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi "has to engage in shuttle diplomacy, communicating alternately with the Russian side, then with the Ukrainian side," the diplomat added.
Zaporozhye NPP
globallookpress.com
© Dmitry Grigoriev
However, despite the contacts of the IAEA with both the Russian Federation and Ukraine, it is still too early to talk about reaching any agreement on the creation of a security zone around the ZNPP, Ulyanov said.
Despite the fact that Russia is participating in the negotiation process on ensuring the safety of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that there is no talk of transferring control over the plant to anyone else.
In particular, this was previously stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
“There can be no question of any withdrawal of ZNPP from Russian control or transfer of control over it to some third party,” she said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Zakharova stressed that ZNPP is located on the territory of Russia and is fully controlled by the country's authorities.
“We proceed from the premise that only we are able to ensure the physical and nuclear security of the ZNPP,” said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Later, the adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom concern, Renat Karchaa, confirmed the Russian position.
“The transition of the station under the control of the IAEA and, in fact, under the control of Ukraine ... I have a natural question: how will the station come under the control of the IAEA?
This story is absolutely not regulated either by the IAEA Charter or by any other international legal documents.
This is basically impossible today,” Karchaa said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
In addition, according to the adviser to the general director of Rosenergoatom, the IAEA does not have a mandate to manage nuclear power plants.
"One of the Tools"
Experts interviewed by RT note that the Kyiv regime, with the connivance of Western countries and institutions, continues to use the ZNPP as an element of blackmail, hoping that through shelling and political pressure it will be able to force the Russian Federation to leave the station.
This opinion was expressed in a RT commentary by Andrey Koshkin, a member of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation.
“Kyiv likes to blackmail European states with the potential risk of a nuclear or man-made disaster.
In accordance with this approach, he continues to work on this topic, simultaneously shelling the station and at the same time offering to transfer it under the control of the IAEA or some kind of UN peacekeeping force.
All this is necessary in order for everyone to sympathize with Ukraine and at the same time fear for their own security, ”the political scientist emphasized.
At the same time, the IAEA, despite its international status, is a Western-oriented institution that will never be objective in relation to the Russian Federation in this situation, Koshkin added.
“The task of all such organizations is to isolate the Russian Federation.
In this format, all their actions are performed.
For them, the main thesis is that Russia is to blame for everything, ”the expert emphasized.
Zaporozhye NPP
AP
© Russian Defense Ministry Press Service
Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, agrees with this assessment of what is happening.
“We know that Ukraine is shelling this station, while pretending that this is not her doing.
The international community and the IAEA also try not to notice this and pretend that it is allegedly impossible to determine who and from which side is shelling the station.
This is a game played by Kyiv and the West, hoping to resolve this situation at the expense of Russian interests, ”the expert emphasized in a RT comment.
At the same time, flirting with a nuclear facility is a serious threat to the entire continent, Vadim Kozyulin added.
“Everyone understands this, but in the interests of the Ukrainian side, the West is ready to turn a blind eye to the danger of such actions.
This, of course, is a serious problem, which leads to the fact that the world is no longer afraid of a nuclear threat: we are already seeing the rhetoric of individual politicians, which says that they are no longer afraid of a nuclear war.
These are the results of the policy that the West is pursuing in the interests of supporting Ukraine, ”said the RT interlocutor.
And this course will continue, as the West sees Ukraine as part of its geopolitical confrontation with Russia, said Vadym Kozyulin.
“They have a goal - to achieve victory in this confrontation, and Ukraine is one of the tools, one of the stages of achieving it.
For this, all means are involved.
And the nuclear security of the European continent also becomes a victim of such a policy,” the political scientist concluded.
