٠٠:٠٣:٤٠The risks of disaster at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are increasing, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday.
Likhachev highlighted the perceived lack of adherence to International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) principles by Kiev and warned that military threats could increase the likelihood of a direct attack on the plant.
"The lack of articulated support for the IAEA principles from the Kiev leadership actually leaves them free to behave as they see fit. And this does not bode well for the plant. So the situation is stable, it is under control, the plant team is extremely professional and we calculate all the technological risks including Kakhovka, but the danger of military threat and direct attack on the plant in my understanding rather increases in the present conditions," he said.
He also noted that Russia complies with the principles announced by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during the UN Security Council special meeting held earlier on Tuesday.
"Russia is de facto fulfilling those principles, those five postulates that Rafael said, proclaimed from the rostrum of the United Nations a few days ago. They seem simple - no firing at the station, no firing from the station, protection of infrastructure, no putting pressure on people - but they are the essence of security. It is canon for us, we will observe these principles by all means," he stressed.
Likhachev expressed gratitude to the IAEA mission following their visit to ZNPP on Thursday, for the 'personal courage' they displayed in the 'aggravated military-political situation'.
Both Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other for striking the facility, which came under Russian control in March 2022.
On September 15, the IAEA’s board of governors adopted a resolution calling on Russia 'to stop all actions against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facility' in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the move 'important' and stressed the necessity to demilitarise the plant and 'immediately withdraw all Russian military from there'.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to the IAEA, called the document 'anti-Russian' and said it was drafted 'unprofessionally'.
The head of the Novaya Kakhovka administration, Vladimir Leontyev, reported on June 6 that overnight strikes had destroyed the upper part of the HPP and that 'water began discharging uncontrollably downstream'.
Kiev held the Russian Armed Forces responsibly and called the destruction of the plant an 'ecocide'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 7 that the incident at the Kakhovka HPP was an example of Ukraine "making a dangerous bet on an escalation of hostilities, committing war crimes, openly using terrorist methods, organising sabotage on Russian territory."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the incident as a 'monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe'. At least 16,000 people have lost their homes, according to his organisation.
Since the summer of 2022, the Kakhovska HPP has been under constant shelling, with the Ukrainian and Russian sides blaming each other for the strikes.
The Kakhovka plant is the sixth, lower and final link in the Dnieper hydropower system and is located five kilometres from Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Russia: Danger of military threat and direct attack on Zaporozhye NPP increases - Rosatom DG Likhachev at SPIEF
The risks of disaster at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are increasing, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday.
Likhachev highlighted the perceived lack of adherence to International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) principles by Kiev and warned that military threats could increase the likelihood of a direct attack on the plant.
"The lack of articulated support for the IAEA principles from the Kiev leadership actually leaves them free to behave as they see fit. And this does not bode well for the plant. So the situation is stable, it is under control, the plant team is extremely professional and we calculate all the technological risks including Kakhovka, but the danger of military threat and direct attack on the plant in my understanding rather increases in the present conditions," he said.
He also noted that Russia complies with the principles announced by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during the UN Security Council special meeting held earlier on Tuesday.
"Russia is de facto fulfilling those principles, those five postulates that Rafael said, proclaimed from the rostrum of the United Nations a few days ago. They seem simple - no firing at the station, no firing from the station, protection of infrastructure, no putting pressure on people - but they are the essence of security. It is canon for us, we will observe these principles by all means," he stressed.
Likhachev expressed gratitude to the IAEA mission following their visit to ZNPP on Thursday, for the 'personal courage' they displayed in the 'aggravated military-political situation'.
Both Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other for striking the facility, which came under Russian control in March 2022.
On September 15, the IAEA’s board of governors adopted a resolution calling on Russia 'to stop all actions against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facility' in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the move 'important' and stressed the necessity to demilitarise the plant and 'immediately withdraw all Russian military from there'.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to the IAEA, called the document 'anti-Russian' and said it was drafted 'unprofessionally'.
The head of the Novaya Kakhovka administration, Vladimir Leontyev, reported on June 6 that overnight strikes had destroyed the upper part of the HPP and that 'water began discharging uncontrollably downstream'.
Kiev held the Russian Armed Forces responsibly and called the destruction of the plant an 'ecocide'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 7 that the incident at the Kakhovka HPP was an example of Ukraine "making a dangerous bet on an escalation of hostilities, committing war crimes, openly using terrorist methods, organising sabotage on Russian territory."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the incident as a 'monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe'. At least 16,000 people have lost their homes, according to his organisation.
Since the summer of 2022, the Kakhovska HPP has been under constant shelling, with the Ukrainian and Russian sides blaming each other for the strikes.
The Kakhovka plant is the sixth, lower and final link in the Dnieper hydropower system and is located five kilometres from Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
The risks of disaster at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are increasing, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday.
Likhachev highlighted the perceived lack of adherence to International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) principles by Kiev and warned that military threats could increase the likelihood of a direct attack on the plant.
"The lack of articulated support for the IAEA principles from the Kiev leadership actually leaves them free to behave as they see fit. And this does not bode well for the plant. So the situation is stable, it is under control, the plant team is extremely professional and we calculate all the technological risks including Kakhovka, but the danger of military threat and direct attack on the plant in my understanding rather increases in the present conditions," he said.
He also noted that Russia complies with the principles announced by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during the UN Security Council special meeting held earlier on Tuesday.
"Russia is de facto fulfilling those principles, those five postulates that Rafael said, proclaimed from the rostrum of the United Nations a few days ago. They seem simple - no firing at the station, no firing from the station, protection of infrastructure, no putting pressure on people - but they are the essence of security. It is canon for us, we will observe these principles by all means," he stressed.
Likhachev expressed gratitude to the IAEA mission following their visit to ZNPP on Thursday, for the 'personal courage' they displayed in the 'aggravated military-political situation'.
Both Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other for striking the facility, which came under Russian control in March 2022.
On September 15, the IAEA’s board of governors adopted a resolution calling on Russia 'to stop all actions against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facility' in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the move 'important' and stressed the necessity to demilitarise the plant and 'immediately withdraw all Russian military from there'.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to the IAEA, called the document 'anti-Russian' and said it was drafted 'unprofessionally'.
The head of the Novaya Kakhovka administration, Vladimir Leontyev, reported on June 6 that overnight strikes had destroyed the upper part of the HPP and that 'water began discharging uncontrollably downstream'.
Kiev held the Russian Armed Forces responsibly and called the destruction of the plant an 'ecocide'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 7 that the incident at the Kakhovka HPP was an example of Ukraine "making a dangerous bet on an escalation of hostilities, committing war crimes, openly using terrorist methods, organising sabotage on Russian territory."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the incident as a 'monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe'. At least 16,000 people have lost their homes, according to his organisation.
Since the summer of 2022, the Kakhovska HPP has been under constant shelling, with the Ukrainian and Russian sides blaming each other for the strikes.
The Kakhovka plant is the sixth, lower and final link in the Dnieper hydropower system and is located five kilometres from Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.