Russia requests UNSC meeting in connection with Zaporozhye NPP
Russian mission at the UNSC is calling for a meeting on August 11 and requesting that the IAEA director general be present with a prepared report.
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Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (AFP)
Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky confirmed Tuesday that Russia has requested a UN Security Council meeting on August 11 in relation to Ukraine's attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP).
"We have requested a meeting on Ukraine’s shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP. This issue requires a detailed conversation with our Security Council colleagues. Ukrainian provocations must not be concealed from the public," Polyansky said.
According to TASS, Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been invited by Russia to participate and present a report on the matter.
The Ukrainian military shelled the Zaporozhye NPP on August 7, targeting the spent nuclear fuel repository, launching 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.
Earlier on August 8, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated to reporters that Ukrainian forces have been accused by the Kremlin of shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, warning of potential "catastrophic consequences" for Europe.
Peskov also stated that "The shelling of the territory of the nuclear plant by the Ukrainian armed forces is a potentially extremely dangerous activity... fraught with catastrophic consequences for a vast area, including the territory of Europe."
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, on August 9, that heightened activity from Ukrainian forces made the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) increasingly dangerous. Zakharova added that Kiev, through targeting the facility, is holding all of Europe hostage.
Read more: Russia to facilitate IAEA visit to Zaporozhye NPP: FM
