IAEA politicizing ZNPP crisis: Russia nuclear chief
Russia criticizes the IAEA for the politicization of its reports on Ukraine without taking into account ground facts.
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IAEA politicizing ZNPP crisis: Russia nuclear chief
UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has faced criticism from the head of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom over politicizing its narrative on Ukraine and allowing politics to shape its reports on Kiev.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors passed on Thursday a resolution demanding Moscow to "immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant."
The accusations from the West come as Russia stresses that Kiev is behind the attacks on the nuclear facility that has been under its control since March.
The IAEA board passed a resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to withdraw its forces from the ZNPP without making any mention of the systematic Ukrainain shelling of the nuclear power plant.
Earlier that day, the Russian Permanent Mission to International Organizations in Vienna said: "Western countries voted through the IAEA Board of Governors to drag an anti-Russian resolution on the Ukrainian issue."
"They know full well what is happening there and where [attacks] are coming from… They definitely share this information online with [the headquarters in] Vienna and a political component is added at some stage," Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev said in an interview that aired Sunday.
On September 1, the IAEA sent a 14-person team to the site, including its Director General Rafael Grossi, to assess the situation at the plant. At least two members of the team were to remain there on a permanent basis to ensure the facility's safety.
On September 7, the IAEA issued a report in light of the attacks launched by Kiev's forces on the ZNPP, in which it called for the immediate establishment of a protective zone at its premises and vicinities.
Russia regretted that the IAEA did not name the source of the shelling at the ZNPP, Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said.
Grossi said last Sunday that he was negotiating a safe zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
His statement came after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his French counterpart during a phone call over the potential "catastrophic consequences" of Ukrainian attacks on the ZNPP in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine.
The situation at ZNPP remained "precarious" after the shelling damaged the nuclear site’s vital infrastructure, Grossi said.
