The IAEA Board of Governors adopted a new resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and stop actions against nuclear facilities, diplomatic sources quoted by AFP said.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plantPhoto: STRINGER / AFP / Profimedia

The text, presented by Canada and Finland, was approved by 24 of the 35 states in the Council, two diplomats contacted by AFP said. Russia and China voted against.

Seven countries abstained (Pakistan, India, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia). Two were absent.

Two resolutions on this matter were already adopted in March and then in September, at a time when continuous shelling in Ukraine raised fears of a nuclear accident.

In this text, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “expresses deep concern” about Russia’s refusal to stop attacks on Ukrainian nuclear facilities.

He calls on Russia to “relinquish its baseless claims to the Zaporizhzhia plant, immediately withdraw its troops and personnel, and cease all actions” against the plants in the country.

Constantly bombarded / Imminent danger

The situation of Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest in Europe, is of particular concern. Occupied by Russian troops since the beginning of March, it is located on one of the territories annexed by Russia.

Not far from the demarcation line between Kyiv-controlled and Moscow-occupied territories, it is the target of regular bombings, which both sides blame each other for.

Calls for demilitarization have become more frequent, so far without success.

IAEA inspectors have been there since the beginning of September, and UN Director General Rafael Grossi spent weeks negotiating the creation of a buffer zone around the plant.

The talks, which he described as “very difficult,” are aimed at a very simple goal: “don’t shoot at the factory, don’t shoot from the factory,” he said on Wednesday, the first day of a cabinet meeting. Quarterly board meeting with request to act “as soon as possible”.

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