Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing regarding the situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant
Mme.President,
As we see, a paratroop force (although a small one) of EU states’ representatives have “landed” in this meeting again, with the sole purpose of making an appearance on their national television networks. I ask again, what value are they going to add today? The representative of the European Union is here. Beyond what he says, how can these countries contribute to our discussion? Besides, I do not see them rushing to take part in meetings that are held at our initiative. I have already said this, and I will repeat it now. If you are so bold as to come to these meetings, then do come to ours too. We would love to hear from you about the role you are playing in the crisis in Ukraine.
Mme.President,
We would like to extend gratitude to our American and Slovenian colleagues for their timely initiative to hold today's meeting. They were just a little ahead of us, for we were also ready to convene a meeting because of the threats posed by Ukraine to the safety and security of Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
We listened carefully to the briefer’s statement today. Whoever it was who voiced today's assessments of the possible catastrophic consequences of Kiev's irresponsible and reckless actions against the ZNPP, we fully share them. This person clearly demonstrated the level of threats to nuclear safety and security of the plant posed by such attacks.
You may be surprised at the unusual form in which we addressed the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Rafael Grossi, which is unconventional for the Security Council, and for normal human communication too, for that matter. Please do not take this as a sign of disrespect, for we have always appreciated Director Grossi's work and the tireless efforts of his colleagues at the IAEA. In particular, we are grateful to the Agency's leadership for its prompt and clear condemnation of the direct attacks on the ZNPP and its call to put an end to provocations against the plant. We decided to begin our statement in this way only to demonstrate how strange the generally balanced and relevant assessments of the Director Grossi sound when anonymized to the level "whoever stands behind the attacks" and when they fail (contrary to the obvious facts) to specify the party that we all know committed those attacks. All the more so because the IAEA experts at the ZNPP have the opportunity to see everything with their own eyes.
Mme.President,
Maintenance of nuclear safety and security has always been an undeniable priority for Russia. With the support of the IAEA, my country takes every effort to prevent threats to the safety and security of the ZNPP.
Whether someone likes the fact that the plant is under Russian control or not is another matter, and it has nothing to do with threats to nuclear safety and security of the ZNPP. Their only source is clear. With the connivance of its Western sponsors, Ukraine systematically carries out irresponsible and reckless attacks on ZNPP and its surrounding territory. Between July and November 2022, the UAF subjected the plant to regular rocket and artillery fire, and there were also several attempts at sabotage. After that, for almost a year and a half there were no direct strikes against the facility, because the UAF focused on shelling the town of Energodar, where ZNPP employees and their family members live, as well as the industrial area around ZNPP and the plant-related infrastructure outside its perimeter. Over the past few months, however, such attacks have not only resumed, but have intensified dramatically. The armed forces of the Russian Federation detected and suppressed up to a hundred-plus unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) per week. We regularly informed (and continues to do so) the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA Secretariat of these unacceptable actions.
However, Western colleagues did not (and still do not) want to recognize that threats posed by Kiev are real – even after such egregious incidents as the explosion of a UAV-delivered shell-less explosive device on March 12 just five meters away from ZNPP’s reserve diesel fuel warehouse, as well as the hits of kamikaze drones in the areas of the cargo port and nitrogen-oxygen station that occurred on April 5.
In the absence of any reprimands from its masters, on April 7, the Kiev regime, sure of its impunity, once again turned to the tactic of direct shelling of the ZNPP. First, a kamikaze drone struck the canteen, where a food truck was being unloaded. Three people were injured - one of them was seriously wounded. Moreover, only twenty minutes before the strike, IAEA experts who were at ZNPP had visited this place in accordance with the previously agreed schedule, which means that they could have become the targets of the Ukrainian attack. After that, drone attacks were launched against Units No. 5 and No. 6. One of the drones was shot down, and the other exploded on the roof of Unit 6. Later in the same day, the ZNPP training center was attacked, another strike on its roof was recorded on April 9. And on April 8, a drone was downed on the territory of the plant, falling on the roof of the engine room of Unit 5.
We have provided the timeline in such detail in order to make it clear to all our colleagues that those were not some random "hits" on the ZNPP. We are talking about direct, targeted strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces against the largest nuclear power plant in Europe; strikes which the Kiev leader is cynically trying to blame on Russia. I think we will hear more of this today. But let those who play along with him ask a simple question. Why, of the 5 nuclear power plants in Ukraine, did Russia start creating security threats against the one under its control? If you are familiar with at least basic logic, the absurdity of such accusations becomes obvious. When our Western colleagues took the floor today, they, without realizing it, spoke today in the language of ultimatums. "Hand over control over the ZNPP, and then it will no longer come under shelling". By assuming this rhetoric, they not only exposed Zelensky’s regime completely, but actually confessed to complicity in these irresponsible attacks. Today, By the way, when briefing us today, the IAEA Director General did not say a word about the problem with the access of IAEA personnel to the ZNPP. However, this was raised by the United States and the United Kingdom. So you had it ready in your talking points. Why do we then invite Director General Grossi to brief us?
There are no military goals whatsoever that could justify Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. Russia has never deployed heavy weapons at ZNPP and has not carried out any attacks from its territory. IAEA experts who are present at the ZNPP at the invitation of the Russian side are well aware of this. But Ukraine's actions constitute a flagrant direct violation of the Agency's calls and requirements. However, why should we be surprised by Kiev's disregard for the IAEA's efforts if it is not even concerned about the safety of the Agency's staff?
In view of the above, we call on the IAEA leadership to recognize the obvious fact and rather than engage in verbal equilibrium, to point to the source of the attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. This is not a political issue - now it is simply a question of the safety of the plant, as well as nuclear and radiation safety in Europe. The hesitation of the IAEA Secretariat to call things by their proper names only encourages the authorities in Kiev to take further irresponsible and extremely dangerous actions. If the Agency proceeds with this depersonalized interpretation of the shelling of the ZNPP, IAEA's efforts will lose much of their sense.
In this respect, we have way less hope for Western governments, who have long since given the Kiev regime carte blanche to commit whatever crimes and actions against Russia. Nevertheless, we would like to believe that our European neighbors have not yet lost their instinct for self-preservation and will not put the lives and health of their own citizens at risk. After all, if Ukrainian strikes on ZNPP continue, no one can completely rule out a nuclear catastrophe on a regional or even global scale.
I would like to believe that the people of European countries will see the danger of such a scenario and will not let their security be sacrificed to the insane plots of Zelensky and his regime.
Mme.President,
For its part, Russia will continue to protect ZNPP from Ukrainian attacks and provocations. We intend to continue to take measures to strengthen the nuclear safety and security of ZNPP in accordance with our national legislation and obligations stemming from the specialized international legal instruments to which Russia is a party.
We call on the IAEA Secretariat, as well as all reasonable members of the international community, to do everything possible to save the world from a nuclear incident. One of the most important steps towards this goal would be a direct and open condemnation of Ukraine's actions, which already brought us all to the brink of a disaster more than once.
Thank you.
