Russia Defense Minister tackles Zaporozhye NPP with UN chief: Moscow

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 2022 23:45

The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been the target of Ukrainian nationalists.

A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Zaporozhye NPP (Archive)

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the security situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant in Ukraine, which is currently under Moscow's control and has been the target of Ukrainian nationalists.

In a statement, the Russian Ministry said, "Sergei Shoigu conducted telephone negotiations with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regarding the conditions for the safe operation of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant."

Russian forces have had complete control over the Zaporozhye nuclear power station since March, but drone attacks by Ukrainian forces have regularly targeted the facility, leading Russia to request help from the IAEA to address security issues.

The Ukrainian military shelled the Zaporozhye NPP on August 7, targeting the spent nuclear fuel repository. At the time, Kiev regime launched a 220mm Uragan rocket with a cluster munition.

In March, Russian forces took full control of the NPP; the Kherson region and most of the Zaporozhye region in Ukraine are now controlled by Russian military forces and local military-civilian administrations that have been formed there.

On July 12, two Ukrainian drones attacked a building close to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP), according to a spokesperson for the military-civilian administration in Enerhodar.

According to the military-civilian administration at Nova Kakhovka, the Ukrainian strike carried out on the city was done using multiple rocket launchers HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) supplied by the United States.

Such incidents have triggered fears of a possible nuclear catastrophe and were the subject of an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council last Thursday.

Shoigu and Guterres also discussed the July 31 Ukrainian strikes on the Olenivka prison in eastern Ukraine, which killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners.