“The hour is serious”, launched yesterday, Thursday August 11, 2022 the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before the UN Security Council, demanding access to the nuclear power plant of Zaporizhia that Moscow and kyiv accuse each other of having bombed.
“The situation is serious and the IAEA must be authorized to carry out its mission in Zaporijjia as quickly as possible”, declared Rafael Grossi, speaking on video during this emergency meeting of the Security Council.
“Time is running out,” he insisted, as the IAEA has been trying for weeks to send a mission to inspect the plant, a mission that kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of holding back.
The site of the Zaporijjia power plant, the largest in Europe, under Russian control since the beginning of March, was again bombed on Thursday, kyiv and Moscow accusing each other once again of being responsible.
Ukraine’s allies, emphasizing the need for the IAEA mission, pointed to Russian responsibility before the Security Council.
“The solution for what is happening in Zaporizhia is simple. The United States calls on the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territory,” said Bonnie Jenkins, US Under Secretary of State for Disarmament.
Unsurprisingly, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blamed kyiv and its allies.
“We call on the states supporting the kyiv regime to (…) force it to put an end once and for all to the attacks against the Zaporizhia power plant”, and the UN and the IAEA to tell the Ukrainian authorities that their actions are “unacceptable,” he said.
“The true scale of a nuclear disaster at the plant is hard to imagine. The entire responsibility would rest with the Western supporters of kyiv”, insisted the Russian ambassador, describing as “surreal”, “cynical and absurd” the accusations against Moscow.
“The Russians are well known for their elaborate schemes of deception, sabotage and cover-up, like the one we see today,” replied Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya.
“None of us can stop the wind carrying the radiation, but together we can stop a terrorist state. And the sooner we stop Russia, the sooner Europe and the world will feel safe again,” he added.
While Russia has also accused the UN services of having prevented the IAEA mission, the spokesman for Secretary General Antonio Guterres rejected this idea.
“This is a nuclear power plant in the middle of a battlefield. I think we can imagine at least two or three pages of obstacles,” noted Stéphane Dujarric.
To guarantee the security of the site and allow an inspection mission, Antonio Guterres and the United States called on Thursday for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant.
“Unfortunately, instead of a de-escalation, even more disturbing incidents have been reported in recent days, incidents which, if continued, could lead to a catastrophe,” Antonio Guterres said in a statement.