Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the shelling of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) by the Russian Federation

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the shelling and seizure of the Zaporizhzhya NPP site in the town of Energodar by the occupying armed forces of the Russian Federation.

As a result of the shelling on the territory of the nuclear power plant, a fire broke out, killing and injuring several people. The fire has now been extinguished.

The Zaporizhzhya NPP site as well as the Chernobyl NPP are currently under the control of Russian armed forces.

Employees of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant are monitoring the condition of power units and ensuring their operation in accordance with the requirements of technical regulations for safe operation. The radiation background is currently within the norm.

Cooling of the nuclear fuel within Zaporizhzhya NPP power units is maintained by dedicated systems of power units, in accordance with the requirements of technical regulations for safe operation.  If, at any point, the cooling process is disturbed, this could cause radioactive damage across large territories and have irreparable consequences for Europe's environment. Thousands of people – including civilians who are currently unable to evacuate the area near the plant due to ongoing shelling and fighting - would be hurt by this.

In addition to the six power units at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, there is a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel on site. Any damage to this facility can also lead to nuclear radiation release.

As a result, a nuclear disaster of this scale may exceed all previous accidents at nuclear power plants, including Chernobyl and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disasters.

Russia has consciously undertaken an armed attack on the nuclear power site, an action that violated all international agreements within the IAEA, in particular the IAEA Charter, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, the Convention on Nuclear Accident Warning and the Convention on the Protection of Nuclear Accidents and the Convention of Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Nuclear Material. The shelling of the Zaporizhzhya NPP is also a gross violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

We are disappointed by the reaction of the IAEA, whose statement did not go far enough to include any mention of the attacking side. We demand clear and decisive action from the IAEA.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on the international community to strongly condemn the actions of the Russian occupiers, which could lead to an unprecedented nuclear catastrophe.

We call on our partners to take urgent steps to force Russia to withdraw its armed forces from the nuclear power plant and create a security zone.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has already instructed Ukrainian diplomatic missions to start urgent contacts with partners, in particular through the IAEA, in order to prepare an international response to Russia's aggression.