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The British newspaper Financial Times deliberately distorts the statements of the Russian side about the possible visit of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Raphael Grossi to the Zaporozhye NPP (NPP), said Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov.
Earlier in an interview with Izvestia, Ulyanov, commenting on the future visit of the head of the IAEA to the NPP, noted that even Grossi himself would not be able to give an exact answer to this question, and suggested that the visit could take place in late August or early September. In turn, the Financial Times, according to his comment, published an article under the heading “Russia rejects calls to allow access to the Ukrainian nuclear power plant,” attributing to Ulyanovsk the thesis that Grossi’s visit to the NPP is impossible before the end of August – beginning of September.
Ulyanov said that in an interview with Izvestia, he only expressed an opinion about the possible timing of Grossi’s visit and suggested that the period he announced could be proposed by the head of the IAEA himself.
Ulyanov also noted that the shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP by the Ukrainian army is the main obstacle to the visit of the IAEA delegation to the station. The diplomat called on Kiev to stop the attacks on the NPP and give security guarantees to the IAEA delegation. He noted that during the discussion of the visit at the UN Security Council on August 11, none of the parties spoke out against the visit, but difficulties may arise in its practical implementation. Ulyanov also said that the UN has not given a clear explanation about what was the reason for the decision to block the June visit of the IAEA delegation to the NPP.
In March, the Russian Armed Forces established control over the NPP. On Thursday, the head of the military-civil administration of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said that Ukrainian nationalists continue shelling the NPP, at least 3 Ukrainian missiles fell in the area of the radioactive isotope storage. At the same time, according to Balitsky, despite the fall of missiles, the radioactive background in the area of the NPP does not exceed the normativeindicators, and radioactive contamination is not noted. Balitsky also accused Ukraine of trying to achieve the effect of a “dirty bomb”, that is, radioactive emissions, by hitting the NPP. According to him, Ukrainian neo-Nazis are purposefully trying to get into the storage of nuclear waste from the NPP, and their successful provocation of a radioactive release will make the adjacent territory uninhabitable.
Earlier, the official representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric said that the IAEA delegation should visit the Zaporizhia NPP as soon as possible, and is already discussing the details of the visit with all interested parties, and the UN is ready to support this initiative “in any possible way.” Dujarric said that the importance of visiting the NPP by IAEA experts is increasing every day.