UN Orders Russia To Stop Attacks And Withdraw Troops From Ukraine's Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant

Rafael Grossi leads the IAEA inspection team to PLTN Zaporizhia. (Twitter/@rafaelmgrossi)

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Thursday ordered Russia to "immediately withdraw its military personnel and equipment" from PLTN Zaporizhia, returning its full control to Ukrainian authorities.

The UN resolution "condemns an immediate halt to attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure, which increases the risk of accidents or nuclear incidents in all Ukrainian nuclear facilities."

The 193-member General Assembly adopted a resolution with 99 votes in favor of, nine against, and 60 abstentions.

In addition, the resolution adopted on Thursday again demanded that Russia "immediately stop its aggression against Ukraine and withdraw all of its military forces unconditionally."

Speaking before the vote, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya urged countries to vote in favor of the resolution.

#BREAKINGUN General Assembly ADOPTS resolution on safety and security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plantVoting result:In favor: 99Against: 9Abstain: 60 pic.twitter.com/aIp1VxmLCz

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) July 11, 2024

#BREAKUN General Assembly ADOPTS resolution on safety and security of nuclear facilities of Ukraine, including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plantVoting result:Infavor: 99Against: 9Abstain: 60 pic.twitter.com/bhip1VxmLCz

"We owe this to future generations. We must ensure that the horror of the nuclear disaster does not repeat itself," he said.

Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy told the General Assembly before the vote, the aim of the resolution was "to try to promote a false Western narrative about the source of threats to nuclear facilities in Ukraine."

He argued at the General Assembly what he said was the wreckage of Ukraine's unmanned aircraft that had been used to attack the Zaporizhzhia power plant on April 7.

Ukraine has denied they were behind the drone attack that Polyanskiy referred to.

PLTN Zaporizhia, the largest in Europe, was captured by Russia shortly after launching a massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The nuclear power plant was closed but needed external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent destruction.

Throughout the war, Ukraine and Russia accused each other of firing PLTN and cutting off power lines. Ukraine has dismissed Russian accusations, saying it did not attack nuclear facilities.

It is known that the General Assembly has been the focus of the UN's actions on Ukraine because the 15-member Security Council cannot produce an agreement because of veto rights held by Russia, the United States, China, France, and Britain, despite holding dozens of meetings on Ukraine.