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Reactor safety: restrictions may be tightened due to APU attacks on nuclear power plants
The leadership of the Zaporizhia nuclear Power Plant may tighten security measures due to the intensification of Ukrainian strikes, Evgenia Yashina, Director of Communications at the ZAES, told Izvestia. According to her, the planned rotation of IAEA observers at the station will take place in the coming weeks. Russia will respond to the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacks on energy facilities, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Earlier, Ukraine sharply increased attacks on the territory of the facility and the city of Energodar as a whole, with the number of strikes reaching their highest levels in the last three years. Experts believe that Kiev is trying to regain the attention of the world community in this way and influence the terms of negotiations on ending the conflict.
Increased shelling of the nuclear power plant
On April 7, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the sports and recreation complex of the Zaporizhia NPP with drones. The shell hit the roof of the building. The drone was equipped with striking elements in the form of metal balls. In addition, on April 1, it became known about the arrival of a UAV in the area of the Energodar administration, and on April 2, the drone hit a fire truck.
Amid the most intense Ukrainian strikes in the last three years, the leadership of the NPP is considering further tightening of restrictions, Communications Director Evgenia Yashina told Izvestia.
— In case of further deterioration of the situation, restrictions may be tightened. All decisions will be made based on the current situation and with the priority of maintaining nuclear and radiation safety," she stressed.
According to her, the issue of strengthening measures at the Zaporizhia NPP is under constant control. The employees of the station and the units providing its protection make every effort to ensure the safe operation of the facility.
— In general, the reinforcement work is ongoing. There is a curfew in Energodar with restrictions on movement at night, as well as restrictions on street lighting. There are clear regulations for station employees that prescribe the observance of special rules of movement on the territory when announcing various modes," Yashina clarified.
At the same time, the attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces threaten not only the Power plant, but also the operation of the nuclear power plant itself. For example, on March 24, one of the two power transmission lines feeding the Zaporizhia NPP, Dneprovskaya, was disabled by protection. To restore its operation, it is necessary to create a silence regime, negotiations on this are underway jointly with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Yuri Chernichuk, director of the station.
Russia will respond to Ukraine's attacks on energy facilities, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes of the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
— It can be assumed that these are attempts by Kiev against the background of Zelensky's statements to impose a ban on strikes on energy facilities, to strike at our energy sector and hide from responsibility for this alleged moratorium. You can be sure that there will be retaliatory actions from Russia," the diplomat said.
Vladimir Zelensky said earlier that he had sent Russia, through the United States, a proposal for an "energy truce" during Easter.
According to Rodion Miroshnik, Ukraine is trying to criminally attract the attention of its sponsors and secure the allocation of new funds from Europe by using attacks on the NPP.
— Ukraine is unable to do anything on the battlefield, they have lost the initiative, they cannot present anything to their foreign sponsors. Therefore, they use terrorist methods," the diplomat stressed.
Political analyst Denis Denisov, in an interview with Izvestia, noted that the increase in attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant may be related to an attempt to return the attention of the world community to the Ukrainian conflict, after the West focused on the Middle East. Moreover, the attacks on a strategic facility are probably aimed at changing the conditions of the negotiation process, which do not suit Ukraine. In particular, earlier the United States demanded the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the occupied areas of Donbass in exchange for security guarantees. With the help of strikes on the NPP, Kiev is trying to shift the focus from the territorial issue.
Negotiations on the status of the NPP
A rotation of IAEA experts at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is expected in the coming weeks, Evgenia Yashina confirmed to Izvestia. The agency was also warned about the attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
— The IAEA was notified about the incident in a timely manner. As for the planned rotation of IAEA observers at the NPP, it takes place on average once every two months. The previous one was in early February, so I assume that the new rotation will take place in the coming weeks," said the Director of Communications at ZAES.
Russia took control of the station in March 2022, and it came under the control of Rosatom. Due to the Ukrainian shelling in September of the same year, the operation of the nuclear power plant was stopped, the station no longer generates electricity.
The IAEA inspection led by Director General Rafael Grossi visited the facility for the first time in September 2022. Following the visit, the commission left a permanent group of observers there, whose task is to monitor and assess the safety status of the plant. In March 2025, the next rotation of the agency's experts passed through the territory of the Russian Federation. However, even the presence of the organization's observers at the station itself does not allow them to name the culprit in the attacks. Rafael Grossi refers to the "impossibility of an independent assessment."
"The experience of previous years shows that the IAEA experts cannot perform a protective function due to limited functionality and the inability to abandon some political beliefs about Russia," Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State University, told Izvestia.
The future of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe has become part of the negotiation process on Ukraine. This issue, according to Politico and the Associated Press, was discussed at meetings of the Russian Federation, the United States and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi in January. The American side is interested in organizing mining at the NPP, the media reported earlier.
At the end of last year, Kiev proposed to Washington the joint operation of the plant, dividing the generated energy in half. Moscow emphasizes that Russia will not transfer the Zaporizhia NPP under the control of Ukraine or any other country. There is also no official confirmation that the Russian Federation is raising the issue of control over the station with the United States or Ukraine. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna, told Izvestia that the topic of joint management of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant with the United States had not arisen in the work of the permanent mission.
However, now the negotiation process on Ukraine has actually been put on pause — the last time the parties met in Geneva was on February 17-18. Moscow is waiting for the resumption of consultations in a trilateral format, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 8. Russia and Ukraine continue to fulfill humanitarian agreements: on April 9, Russia handed over 1,000 bodies of dead soldiers to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian side handed over 41 bodies of Russian servicemen.
Moscow and Washington also maintain bilateral contacts, but there are no dates for a new round of negotiations yet. Therefore, progress in restoring the normal operation of the NPP is also not worth waiting for yet.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
