Aug. 8 (UPI) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for foreign inspectors to be allowed into Ukraine’s besieged Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after Kyiv officials said it had been disrupted by Russian bombing.
“At the same time, I hope that [the International Atomic Energy Agency] can take care of the plant and exercise the powers that have been entrusted to it,” he said.
Enerhoatom said it believed the 174 drums, containing 24 sets of spent nuclear fuel, that are stored at the site were attacked.
Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the foreign grid to impose sanctions against Russian nuclear power and nuclear fuel.
In his speech on Sunday evening he had already spoken to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on this subject.
Michel showed he had spoken to Zelensky in a tweet and said the bombing was “alarming. “
“Their protection is of the utmost importance,” he said.
In a statement, the Russian embassy in the United States accused Ukrainian nationalists of being guilty of the attack and said it was only thanks to the Russian military that protected the facility’s critical infrastructure.
“We call on the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency to condemn Kiev’s corrupt action and take urgent measures to prevent provocations in harmful facilities in Ukraine, as well as American hounds to prevent the spread of Russophobic inventions,” he said, referring to the Ukrainian. capital Kyiv through its English spelling of the Soviet era.
Following Saturday’s attack, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi again called for a project of security, safety and security experts to be allowed into the plant.
“If this important project has not yet been carried out, it is not thanks to the IAEA. Despite our determined efforts, this has not been imaginable until now. I will not abandon the project despite everything that is happening. “”He said in a statement.
The facility had already broken down in early March when a fire broke out at the plant after facing artillery fire.
“You have to prevent and prevent now,” he said.