UN Secretary-General António Guterres has demanded that the bombing of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) be stopped and that international inspectors have access to it. “Any attack on a nuclear power plant is suicide,” he said Monday, August 8, at a news conference in Japan, where he participated in events marking the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

“I hope these attacks stop and at the same time I hope the IAEA can gain access to the station,” Guterres said, without blaming either side for the attack. “We fully support the IAEA in its efforts to create conditions for the stabilization” of the situation in the ZNPP, added the UN Secretary-General.

Guterres also noted that the risk of nuclear confrontation returned decades later and urged nuclear powers to pledge not to be the first to use weapons. “I think that if nuclear weapons are used, there will probably be no more UN to respond in any way to that,” he said, responding to a question from a Japanese journalist about the UN’s reaction to Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons. in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of bombing the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

The day before, Ukraine’s National Nuclear Power Generation Company, Energoatom, reported that on August 6, Russian armed forces carried out another rocket attack on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and on the city of Energodar, in the northwest of the region. of Zaporozhye from Ukraine. In turn, the self-proclaimed Energodar “administration”, which is located in the part of the region temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, attributed the bombing to Ukraine’s armed formations and claimed that a 220 mm fragmentation projectile fired from the Uragan rocket system of multiple release was used.

Ukraine’s Attorney General’s office has announced the start of a pre-trial investigation into the bombing – it is being carried out in a criminal case for violating the laws and customs of war. Previously, Energoatom indicated that as a result of the attack on the plant on August 5, there was a serious risk to its safe operation. The Ukrainian corporation believes that the purpose of the ZNPP bombing is to destroy its infrastructure and de-energize southern Ukraine.

The IAEA warned of the risk of nuclear catastrophe due to bombings

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, expressed serious concern on Aug. 6 about the bombing of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, saying it shows a “very real risk” of a nuclear catastrophe. Grossi demanded that an IAEA delegation, which he was ready to lead personally, be allowed to enter the premises. However, he acknowledged that this step would require cooperation from Ukraine, Russia, as well as UN support.

In connection with the difficult situation at the nuclear power plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a more decisive international response to “Russian nuclear terror”. On August 7, the Ukrainian leader spoke by phone with the head of the European Council, Charles Michel. According to Zelensky, sanctions are needed against the Russian nuclear industry, as well as the use of Russian nuclear fuel.