European Union: Russia must immediately cede control over ZNPP to Ukraine

The European Union condemns Russia's military activities around the Zaporizhzhia NPP and calls on the Russian Federation to immediately cede control over the plant to Ukraine.

“The EU condemns Russia’s military activities around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe. This is a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms. We demand that Russia immediately cede control over the Zaporizhzhia power plant to Ukraine and refrain from any action endangering its safety and security,” reads the statement by the EU delegation made at a meeting of the OSCE Special Permanent Council meeting in Vienna, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The EU also underscores that the IAEA monitors must be given free and unrestricted access to the Zaporizhzhia NPP to verify the safety and security of its operations.

The IAEA has not been able to visit the facility captured by Russians in the south of Ukraine since the full-fledged war was unleashed more than five months ago.

As reported, Russian invaders strike the Zaporizhzhia NPP. In particular, rockets hit an area near dry cask storage. Also, according to Energoatom company data, a nitrogen-oxygen station and a combined auxiliary building were damaged as a result of the shelling. There are still risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is also high. In addition, three radiation monitoring sensors around the ZNPP site were damaged.

On August 6, Ukrainian intelligence confirmed that the Russian army had mined the power units of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Energoatom President Petro Kotin reported that Russia’s Rosatom personnel had handed over special software to the Zaporizhzhia NPP to reconnect it to Crimea. The prerequisite is severe damage to the ZNPP communication lines which link the plant with Ukraine’s power grid.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was captured by Russian troops on March 4. There are 500 Russian servicemen in the plant’s territory.

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