Ukraine’s UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, has accused Russia of a “a well-planned false-flag operation” endangering the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
The power plant reportedly suffered at least three direct strikes on 7 April and another drone attack at the plant’s nearby training centre on 9 April, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to warn of a “major escalation” in nuclear danger.
Russia has claimed that Ukrainian drones carried out the April attacks on the nuclear power plant, allegations Kyiv rejects.
“What happened at the ZNPP on 7th and 9th of April 2024 and thereafter was a well-planned false-flag operation by the Russian Federation,” Kyslytsya said at a UN security council meeting last week.
“It was aimed at shifting the focus from the above root cause and the only way to remove all threats to nuclear safety and security, and that is de-occupation of the station.”
“The Russian Federation attempts to hide its own guilt and move our debate to fabricated issues designed to blame Ukraine in the hope of removing the issue of de-occupation from the agenda.”
The nuclear plant was captured in the early stages of the two-year-long war, and despite occasional efforts to reconnect to the Russian energy grid its reactors have gradually been put into shutdown.
The IAEA said on 13 April that all six of the plant’s reactors had been moved into a state of cold shutdown, but the IAEA head, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has said “reckless attacks” significantly increase the risk of a “major nuclear accident” and called for them to stop immediately.
