DISINFO: Ukraine wants to disrupt IAEA visit to Zaporizhzhya nuke power plant
SUMMARY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office wants to disrupt a visit by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. Ukraine keeps on shelling it.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets accusing Ukraine of putting Europe on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe and with a view to deflect attention away from Russia's own occupation and military use of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
In reality, a delegation headed by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, has arrived in Ukraine because Kyiv requested such a visit since Russian troops took over the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. The IAEA said on its official site as early as June 2022:
“Ukraine’s government had last week called on him (Grossi) to lead such a mission, and that the Ukrainian regulator had earlier informed the IAEA that it had ‘lost control over the facility’s nuclear material’.”
Grossi himself said:
“So we are going to Zaporizhzhya, as requested by Ukraine.”
Russian media reports accusing Ukraine of shelling the power plant are unsubstantiated. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has warned about the risk of Russia's militarisation of the Zaporizhzhya NPP. A video shared by Russian opposition outlet The Insider has shown that Russian military vehicles move in and around the plant, some of them (including armoured vehicles) moved into the building containing the first of the plant’s six nuclear reactors.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell condemned Russia’s military activities there and labelled them as a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms.
See more disinformation cases about the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.