DISINFO: IAEA president warns of nuclear catastrophe after Kyiv shells Zaporizhzhia
SUMMARY
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warns of a nuclear catastrophe against the backdrop of Kyiv's shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
RESPONSE
No evidence is provided to back the claim that Ukraine is shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP).
Although the claim implies that the IAEA statement blames the shelling on Ukraine, there was not the slightest mention or implication in the statement, published on 6 August, to that effect.
Contrary to the claim, it is Russia that had shelled the Zaporizhzhia NPP and creating a radioactive threat to Ukraine and the whole of Europe. There has been an increasing number of reports that Russia uses the nuclear site as a so-called “sheltered” artillery park, "using the facilities to fire on Ukrainian positions in the belief that Ukraine would not fire back and risk a nuclear accident". Russia turned the station into a military base. It uses reactor buildings as hiding places for its armaments, such as military trucks and armored vehicles.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warns about the risk of Russia's militarisation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to recent data, Russia mined the territory of the plant and placed its military armaments near nuclear reactors and nuclear waste storage facilities.
A video shared by Russian opposition outlet The Insider shows that Russian military vehicles move in and around the plant, some of them (including armoured vehicles) moved into the building containing the first of the plant’s six nuclear reactors. Besides this, Russian forces dug trenches and establish firing positions.
Russia is denying officials from the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the plant. Russia also rejected calls from the UN for a demilitarised zone around the plant.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell condemned Russia’s military activities there and labelled them as a serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules and another example of Russia’s disregard for international norms.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, accused Russia of using the plant as a nuclear shield. “Of course the Ukrainians cannot fire back lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant,” he said. Russian forces likely use the territory of the plant to shell the Ukrainian-controlled town of Nikopol across the river.
In its recent statement, the Foreign Ministers of the G7 stated that "it is Russia’s continued control of the plant that endangers the region" and demanded Russia to hand back full control over the plant as well as other occupied nuclear facilities to Ukraine.
See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.