Russia holds the nuclear plant hostage – #Russia #holds #nuclear #plant #hostage

SummaryCompaniesZelensky criticized “radiation blackmail” Avdiivka city closed – officialPresident third to the front line trip did

Media, March 28 (Reuters) – Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky UNtold the head of the Nuclear Control Agency of Russian troops Safety cannot be guaranteed at the Zaporizhzhya NPP until you leave the facility.

President on Monday, he met with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the Dnieper hydroelectric power plant – northeast of the Zaporizhzhya plant.

Russia forces seized the Zaporozhye plant, Europe’s largest, in March 2022 in the first weeks of the war, and the Kremlin has shown no inclination to relinquish control of the plant. Russia officials say they want to connect the Zaporozhye plant to the Russian grid.

“Russian troops and employees from the Zaporizhzhya NPP and its adjacent areas, any initiative to restore nuclear safety and security is doomed to failure,” he said. Zelensky quoted.

Russia and Ukraine they routinely accuse each other of setting fire to the facility and risking major accidents. Fighting around the station and concerns that its cooling systems could lose power have fueled fears of a nuclear disaster.

According to Grossi, Zelensky “a rich exchange of views” was held regarding the protection of the plant and its employees. At the factory since September UN A group of observers of the agency has been deployed.

IAEA The leader has repeatedly called for the creation of a security zone around Zaporozhye, and again this week trip will do. Grossi tried to negotiate with both sides, but said in January that it was becoming increasingly difficult to broker a deal.

Zelensky told Grossi that workers at the Zaporozhye plant are under constant pressure from Russian occupation forces, who, he said, do not follow safety rules and interfere with technological processes. Kyiv Moscow troops from the factory and military accused of using it as a shield for equipment.

Zaporizhzhya is one of four regions that Moscow claims to have annexed after referendums in September that were internationally condemned as fraudulent. Russia considers the plant as its territory, Ukraine denies it.

Russia accused Ukraine of risking the safety of the plant. Russia said last month that the construction of protective structures for key facilities at the Zaporizhzhya plant was nearing completion.

In a night video address, Zelensky said that the main focus of his talks with Grossi was energy security, including of Ukraine there was a question of the safety of nuclear power plants, and he said that Russia was using it “for radiation blackmail of the world”.

“Holding the nuclear power plant hostage for more than a year is undoubtedly Europe or the worst incident in the history of world nuclear energy,” said Zelensky.

President of Ukraine during his visit to Zaporozhye region of Ukraine he also met with troops in the southeast, which is his third visit to the front line in less than a week.

Zelensky in the central city of Dnieper after visiting the frontline Marhanets and Nikopol military said that his command held the first on-road meeting.

Stubborn Front

Early on Monday morning, the city of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine wasmilitary because it is tied to the face of the staff Kyiv was trying to break the rear of Russia’s flagging winter offensive before its own counterattack.

Ukrainian general He said that Kiev is planning its next step after Moscow moved to Avdiivka, further south, from the small town of Bakhmut, which Russia was unable to capture after several months of the bloodiest battles of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an update on Monday evening that Russian forces are still trying to attack Bakhmut and have shelled the city and surrounding settlements.

Despite Russia’s winter offensive, the front lines in Ukraine have barely been drawn for more than four months. The Ukrainian army intends to crush the Russian forces before launching a counterattack.

Ukraine’s ground forces commander said last week that a counterattack could come “very soon.” general-Colonel Oleksandr Syrskyi visited the frontline troops in the east and said that his forces are still repelling Russian attacks against Bakhmut.

Defending the small town in the industrialized Donbas region was a military necessity, Syrskyi said. of Ukraine appreciated its stability in “extremely difficult conditions”.

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that the smaller town of Avdiivka, 90 km (55 miles) to the south, could become a “second Bakhmut” as Russia focuses its attention there.

Both cities were reduced to ruins. Russian forces say they are fighting from street to street.

NUCLEAR PLACEMENT PLAN

After Putin’s invasion to “demilitarize” Ukraine bogged down in the fall, he and other Russian officials seized on the prospect that the war could involve nuclear weapons. On Saturday, he said he had reached an agreement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus.

Kyiv and its Western allies reacted angrily to the plan.

Ukraine UN He called a meeting of the Security Council, and Lithuania said that it will call for the imposition of new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk. EU policy chief Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to acquire weapons and threatened further sanctions.

Reporting by Reuters, Ron Popeski and Elaine Monaghan; Written by Doina Chiacu; Edited by Cynthia Osterman

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

2023-03-28 04:23:59
Source – reuters

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