MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia on Monday accused Kyiv of trying to “hold Europe hostage” by bombing the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, after Ukraine called for the creation of a demilitarized zone around it. .
Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of having bombed the surroundings of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, located in southern Ukraine.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the plant, but Kyiv was preventing a possible visit.
“(The Ukrainians) are holding Europe hostage, and they have nothing against the idea of burning down (the plant) as a sacrifice to their Nazi idols,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
Russia says its “special military operation” aims to “denazify” Ukraine, which Kyiv and Western leaders see as a pretext to seize territory in the east and south of the country.
DEMILITARIZED ZONE
The boss of the Ukrainian public energy company Energoatom, Petro Kotin, called on Monday for the demilitarization of the Zaporijjia power plant and estimated that a team of blue helmets should be present on the spot.
“We ask the international community and all our partners (…) to do what is necessary for the withdrawal of the invaders from the sector of the plant and for the creation of a demilitarized zone”, he said. he said on Ukrainian television.
Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhia power plant in southern Ukraine in early March, but Ukrainian Energoatom employees are still operating it. The Kyiv army is currently conducting a counter-offensive in the region.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, warned Monday that “any attack against a nuclear power plant is a suicidal act”, while Moscow and Kyiv reject responsibility for the bombings that have occurred since Friday in the area of the plant.
“We fully support the efforts of the IAEA aimed at creating the conditions for a stabilization of the situation at the level of the plant”, he also declared during a press conference in Japan, where he is. currently for the commemoration of the 77th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
IAEA inspectors must be able to access the Zaporijjia plant, insisted the UN Secretary General.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned in a statement on Saturday that the latest attacks near the plant illustrate “the very real risk of nuclear disaster”.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that the plant had to cut production due to damage inflicted on high-voltage lines by Ukrainian shelling on Sunday.
Authorities in Kyiv denied being behind the bombings and accused Russia itself of carrying out strikes on Saturday near the plant, which they said injured two workers and damaged three radiation sensors.
Russia and Ukraine had already rejected responsibility for strikes that damaged a power line at the plant on Friday.
Reuters is unable to verify these claims on the ground.
(Report from Reuters offices, with contributions from Rocky Swift in Tokyo, from Natalia Zinets in Kyiv, written by Stephen Coates and Mark Heinrich; French version Myriam Rivet and Elena Vardon, edited by Tangi Salaün, Kate Entringer and Camille Raynaud)