IAEA to strengthen its mission at Ukraine's nuclear energy facilities – Sybiha

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will expand and reinforce its monitoring mission at nuclear energy facilities in Ukraine.

This was stated by Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha in an interview with Ukrinform.

"We have received assurances that the observer mission at Ukraine’s nuclear energy facilities will be expanded. This mission will continue and be strengthened," Sybiha said, commenting on his meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in Vienna.

According to Sybiha, he provided Grossi with detailed information about the consequences of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, particularly their impact on nuclear facilities. He emphasized that Russia deliberately targets these facilities, "creating the risk of nuclear incidents."

"My meeting with Rafael Grossi coincided with the IAEA Board of Governors meeting. As you know, Ukraine has become a member of this Board for the first time. We also discussed potential responses and documents that could address the threats posed by Russian strikes on nuclear energy facilities," Sybiha added.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Russian strikes on November 16 to 17 damaged four electrical substations critical to nuclear safety. The IAEA teams had previously assessed seven substations in September and October, documenting significant damage from earlier attacks in August. They concluded that "the ability of Ukraine's power grid to provide reliable external power to nuclear power plants has been significantly reduced."

Since the fall of 2022, the IAEA missions have been deployed at all nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Starting September 12, 2023, the IAEA began sending observer missions to electrical substations essential for the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.