IAEA demands that Russia withdraw troops from Zaporizhia NPP

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which includes 35 UN countries, adopted a resolution demanding that Russia end its occupation of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

This was reported by Reuters, according to Ukrinform.

The resolution states that Russia should "immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facility in Ukraine."

The resolution adds that Russia's occupation of the ZNPP significantly increases the risk of a nuclear accident. Ukrainian personnel continue to operate the station in conditions that the IAEA called are threatening the safety of the facility.

The document was submitted for consideration by the IAEA's highest decision-making body at the initiative of Canada and Poland on behalf of Ukraine, which is not a member of the Council of Governing Organizations.

The resolution was supported by 26 states, while only two – Russia and China – spoke against it. Seven countries abstained.

As reported by Ukrinform, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia, by seizing the ZNPP, seeks to disrupt Ukraine’s energy balance ahead of winter and prevent power exports to the European Union in order to further increase its prices.