Threat to ZNPP will remain for as long as Russians stay at the facility - DIU

The threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant will remain until it is de-occupied and returned to Ukrainian control. There is "nothing new" in the reports about the occupiers' new mining of ZNPP.

Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said this on the air of the national TV marathon. In this way, he commented on the IAEA's statement released on January 19 about the installation of explosives around the perimeter of the plant.

Yusov recalled that at some point there was an acute threat of sabotage or terrorist attack at the station. It was prevented thanks to a number of measures taken by the Ukrainian side.

"But the threat to the personnel and the facility in general will remain as long as it is captured by Russian terrorists," Yusov emphasized.

He said that the only way to restore compliance with international nuclear law and the overall safety of this facility is to return the plant to Ukrainian control.

The representative of the DIU did not see anything new in the mining of the plant, which has now been reported by the IAEA, because the map of minefields erected by the occupiers was published by Ukrainian intelligence last year. However, according to Yusov, "the IAEA experts neither confirmed these facts nor commented on the situation or drew attention to areas where such things were absent."

In addition, the DIU representative recalled that the occupiers had repeatedly endangered the station by shelling, deploying MLRSs and personnel on the territory, as well as launching UAVs.

"In general, this is what is constantly happening at the station. And when Ukraine and the DIU, in particular, claim such things, we we are telling the truth even if it is inconvenient," Yusov added.

Earlier, the IAEA said that mines along the perimeter of the ZNPP were discovered and removed by agency experts in November 2023. However, they are now back in place. This is a closed area inaccessible to the plant's operational personnel.

On January 12, the IAEA reported that the occupiers did not provide experts with access to the reactor halls of power units 1, 2 and 6 at the temporarily seized Zaporizhzhia NPP in Enerhodar once again. The Russians continue to impede the work of the agency's employees in monitoring the situation at the facility.

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