Stefanishyna: Russia's seizure of Chornobyl NPP can be considered a war crime under Geneva Convention

Russia's seizure of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant violates Article 56 of the Additional Protocol of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions and can be considered a war crime.

According to Ukrinform, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna posted on Twitter.

The official noted that due to the occupation of the Chornobyl zone by Russian Army, control over nuclear and radiation facilities was lost. This constitutes a great threat to the whole continent.

“Russian actions directly violate Article 56 of the Additional Protocol of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions. Nuclear power plants and other objects near, even military ones, must not be attacked, as this could result in the release of hazardous powers and subsequent heavy casualties,” the Deputy PM said.

According to Paragraph 5 of Article 85 of the Protocol, these violations can be considered as war crimes in the case of grievous losses among the civilian population, Stefanishyna noted.

Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Head of the President's Office, said that the Ukrainian military had lost control of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

As of 20:00 on February 24, there are no casualties at the Chernobyl facilities, which are under the control of Russian armed groups, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on February 24 that it was monitoring the situation in Ukraine with great concern and called for maximum restraint to avoid any action that could put the country's nuclear facilities at risk.

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