Russia Limits Access To IAEA Missions At PLTN Zaporizhia, Ukraine: Colonents, Distorting Facts

PLTN Zaporizhia Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/Maxim Gavrilyuk)

JAKARTA - The mission of the nuclear supervisory agency to make an impartial assessment of the situation at the Zaporahhia Nuclear Power Plant (PLTN) is difficult because Russia's interference, according to the Ukrainian state nuclear company Energotom, Friday.

Energatom also said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission, which arrived at the power plant on Thursday, was not allowed to enter the epicenter of the power generation crisis, in which Ukraine said Russia had placed troops.

"Russia does not allow missions to enter the center of the crisis (the plant), where Russian military personnel are currently stationed, which the IAEA representative should not have seen," wrote Energatom on Telegram.

PLTN Zaporizhia, the largest in Europe, was occupied by Moscow in the first weeks of its invasion of Ukraine, but continues to be operated by Energotom staff under the supervision of Russian troops.

The plant, which is only 10 km (6 miles) from Ukraine's position across the Dnipro River, has been repeatedly attacked over the past month, with Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other.

"Russiers lie, distort facts and evidence that prove the shooting of their power plants, as well as the consequences of infrastructure damage (plants)," Energotom said in a statement.

"It is clear that under such conditions it will be difficult for the IAEA to make an impartial assessment of the situation in (the plant)."