Political games around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

The UN demonstrates mournful callousness and a single-minded obsession on the grain deal. But if a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) happens, Ukraine's grain will have to be forgotten for centuries.

Read also: 20,000 animals may have died due to Kakhovka dam destruction, Ukraine says

The international community’s sluggish response to the undermining of the Kakhovka HPP dam, the most significant man-made disaster in Europe in the last decade with long-lasting ecological consequences, should have led to a full-on crisis response from the world. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

The destruction of the Kakhovka reservoir, whose water was used for cooling the reactors and spent nuclear fuel pools at the ZNPP, increased the risk of severe accidents at the plant with dire potential consequences.

The United Nations Security Council meeting on June 23, 2023, became a vivid example of the world's mournful callousness. Deputy Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo gave a speech that emphasized the following:

– The victims among the civilian population (as of today, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has registered 24,862 civilian victims).

– The explosion at the Kakhovka HPP (they emphasized that the UN and humanitarian partners could not gain access to people in the occupied part of the Kherson Oblast). "We call on the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law and ensure safe and unimpeded access to all areas where assistance is needed," she added.

Read also: Shocking photos of shallowed Kakhovka Reservoir published online

- The Black Sea Grain Initiative. "We strongly urge the removal of all obstacles and the continuation of this agreement," she called.

– Nuclear weapons and the regional consequences of war. "The announced deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, for example, and the rhetoric accompanying it, has further escalated regional tensions. We call on all to act responsibly in accordance with their international obligations," said DiCarlo.

Read also: Situation at Zaporizhzhya NPP "extremely fragile”, warns IAEA chief

The Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergey Kyslytsya, expressed concern that "according to intelligence, Russia is considering a scenario of a terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhia NPP with a radiation leak." He called on the international community to take the threat of nuclear terrorism seriously and to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to prevent such developments by introducing enhanced restrictions on Russian nuclear and military-industrial complexes. "We also expect an objective assessment of Russia's criminal actions by the Director-General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi," Kyslytsya said.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, called the Ukrainian side's claim that Russia has mined ZNPP and is preparing to undermine it "paranoid." According to Nebenzia, the IAEA mission led by agency Director Rafael Grossi, who recently visited the station, could see "their absurdity." Note how the argument uses Grossi's statements, who did not notice the cooling pond being mined (because there were no mines at the bottom)! Representatives’ speeches about the increasing likelihood of a disaster at ZNPP by Switzerland, Malta, Brazil, and Ghana were mentioned without emphasis. The rest of the state representatives focused primarily on food security and the Black Sea Grain Initiative, as well as victims of war, especially children.

Read also: Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to hold evacuation drills amid possible terrorist attack at ZNPP

At the same time, before the start of the UN IAEA meeting, a weekly report on events at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant was published on the official website. It acknowledged the minefield around the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and the Chornobyl site. "The IAEA is aware of reports of mines near the cooling pond. During the visit of the Director-General, including the cooling pond, no mine was found on the spot (it is clear that no mine was found on the bottom of the pond). However, the IAEA is aware of the previous placement of mines outside the perimeter of the nuclear power plant, which the agency reported earlier, as well as in certain places inside, which, as explained by the security service staff, were installed for defense purposes. "Our assessment of these specific locations was that although the presence of any explosive device does not meet safety standards, the main functions of object safety do not have a significant impact. We are closely monitoring this issue," said IAEA Director General Grossi.

Read also:

• What will happen if Russia blows up the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant

• Nuclear security specialist on potential terrorist attack at ZNPP

• Crumbling Russian state has only nuclear blackmail left, Kyiv says

Read their words carefully: "Although the presence of any explosive device does not meet safety standards, the main safety functions of the object are not significantly affected," and "The placement of mines inside was for defensive purposes." That is, a nuclear terrorist placed mines near systems that are important for the safety of nuclear power plants for "defensive purposes." Who are they defending against?! From the personnel of the ZNPP? And the IAEA writes that the safety functions do not suffer "significant influence." This is new in the IAEA's nuclear and radiation safety standards and deserves a "Nobel Prize." Such statements vividly testify that Grossi tolerates nuclear terrorists from Russia at the ZNPP. His photo in the arms of Renat Karchaa (Russian state media call Karchaa an "atomic expert" and adviser to the head of Rosatom – NV) and warm words to the leading PR man of the terrorists at the end of the mission, his statement during a briefing at the ZNPP on the results of the visit are documentary evidence of the head of the international organization's Russian sympathies. Further in the text, Grossi calls on all parties to adhere to the basic principles of the IAEA aimed at preventing a nuclear accident.

Read also: Energoatom chief explains how Kakhovka dam explosion affects safety at Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant

I would like to point out that the Ukrainian mission to the IAEA has been silent lately, unlike Russia, which registers three verbal notes a day regarding the situation at the ZNPP and thus spreads its narrative among member states. This suggests that neither Energoatom nor the State Nuclear Regulatory Service see any problems with the behavior of nuclear terrorists at the ZNPP and do not write any relevant letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For example, the pause between Ukrainian notes lasted from June 6 to June 23, 2023.

Countries concerned about food security and implementing the Black Sea grain initiative should understand that if Russia carries out a radiological attack on the ZNPP, a large amount of farmland in Ukraine, Russia, and neighboring countries may become unsuitable for agriculture for centuries. These countries must clearly distinguish between causes and consequences, but this is not happening for some reason. Preventive measures of consolidated pressure on the terrorist state must be applied immediately. When Russia carries out its terrorist act, it will be too late to put pressure on it. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, reported that Russia had already completed the preparation for the terrorist attack.

Read also: Four dead in Russian strike on Kramatorsk

The helplessness of UN structures before an impudent terrorist state during 500 days of full-scale war is evident. Doubtless, they need to be disbanded, as the League of Nations was in its time, and wholly restructured to leave Russia without a voice and as an outcast.

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