MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – In view of the ongoing shelling of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, Moscow has indicated that it will agree to a withdrawal of its military there. “That’s a reasonable demand for the demilitarization of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, I think we’ll support it,” said the deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament, Vladimir Dschabarov, according to the Interfax agency on Friday. However, Moscow wants to retain control of the nuclear power plant.
Dschabarow ruled out handing over the most powerful nuclear power plant in Europe to Ukraine. “Russia must retain control of the plant,” stressed the Duma deputy from the Kremlin party United Russia.
The situation around the power plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since March, has been escalating dangerously for some time. Initially, Ukrainian and Western politicians accused Moscow of using the facility as a protective shield for its own artillery. In the past week, the power plant site itself has been shelled and damaged several times, even though no critical infrastructure has been hit so far. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attacks. The reports cannot be verified independently.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, called on Moscow and Kyiv to allow international experts to visit immediately. According to its own statements, Russia is ready to do so. The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebensja, said that such a mission should take place “as soon as possible – maybe even by the end of August”./bal/DP/mis