42 countries around the world have asked Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from the occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. “The deployment of Russian military personnel and weapons in a nuclear power plant is unacceptable. This is a breach of safety rules and principles that all members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have pledged to abide by,” the joint statement said.

“We ask the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its armed forces and other unauthorized personnel from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, its surroundings and from all of Ukraine, so that the operator and the Ukrainian authorities can once again fulfill their sovereign obligations at the international level. recognized borders of Ukraine,” emphasizes the statement. [АЭС] in accordance with Ukraine’s obligations”.

The statement was made on behalf of the US, UK, Norway, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and dozens of other countries in addition to the European Union.

The presence of Russian troops in the ZNPP threatens a nuclear catastrophe

Russia occupied the ZNPP in early March, after which Ukrainian personnel continued to work at the station. In recent days, the plant has been subjected to regular bombing, which Russia and Ukraine blame themselves for. At least one employee was injured. In addition, there is evidence that the RF Armed Forces mined the station.

On August 5, the head of Ukrainian state-owned Energoatom, Petr Kotin, admitted in an interview with DW: “We do not fully control nuclear and radioactive security, as we must control it as an operational organization.” The IAEA warned of the risk of a nuclear catastrophe due to the bombing of the ZNPP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry over the situation with the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. “This is a purely security issue. Anyone who creates nuclear threats to other nations is definitely not capable of using nuclear technology safely,” he said.