00:44Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that the safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP must be ensured regardless the results of the referenda in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Grossi was speaking on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
"I think we have to protect the place. Referendum or no referendum we have to protect it," he noted.
Grossi led an IAEA mission to the plant earlier this month, and warned of the risks of a 'nuclear accident’, after Russian and Ukrainian forces accused each other of shelling the facility.
On Tuesday, the local governments of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as those established in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia after the regions came under Russian control, announced plans to hold votes on joining with Russia.
The voting will take place from September 23-27.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to support the decisions taken, stressing that Russia would do everything 'to provide the safe environment for referenda' and let the people 'express their will'.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed it as a 'pseudo-referendum' while his spokesperson Sergei Nikiforov said after the voting there would be no chance for a diplomatic resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
UN: ‘Referendum or no referendum, we have to protect it!’ - Grossi on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that the safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP must be ensured regardless the results of the referenda in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Grossi was speaking on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
"I think we have to protect the place. Referendum or no referendum we have to protect it," he noted.
Grossi led an IAEA mission to the plant earlier this month, and warned of the risks of a 'nuclear accident’, after Russian and Ukrainian forces accused each other of shelling the facility.
On Tuesday, the local governments of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as those established in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia after the regions came under Russian control, announced plans to hold votes on joining with Russia.
The voting will take place from September 23-27.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to support the decisions taken, stressing that Russia would do everything 'to provide the safe environment for referenda' and let the people 'express their will'.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed it as a 'pseudo-referendum' while his spokesperson Sergei Nikiforov said after the voting there would be no chance for a diplomatic resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that the safety of the Zaporizhzhia NPP must be ensured regardless the results of the referenda in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Grossi was speaking on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
"I think we have to protect the place. Referendum or no referendum we have to protect it," he noted.
Grossi led an IAEA mission to the plant earlier this month, and warned of the risks of a 'nuclear accident’, after Russian and Ukrainian forces accused each other of shelling the facility.
On Tuesday, the local governments of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as those established in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia after the regions came under Russian control, announced plans to hold votes on joining with Russia.
The voting will take place from September 23-27.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to support the decisions taken, stressing that Russia would do everything 'to provide the safe environment for referenda' and let the people 'express their will'.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed it as a 'pseudo-referendum' while his spokesperson Sergei Nikiforov said after the voting there would be no chance for a diplomatic resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.