At the 70th IAEA General Conference in Vienna, Ukraine called on Member States to demand Russia’s withdrawal from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and impose sanctions against Rosatom.
Ukraine’s position during the general debate was presented by Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine for European Integration Anatolii Kutsevol.
Ukraine stressed that the root cause of the systemic risks at the Zaporizhzhia NPP is Russia’s military occupation. The plant remains under the control of occupying forces, its connection to external power supply remains vulnerable, maintenance activities are limited, while IAEA experts face restrictions on access to information and facilities at the ZNPP site.
Rosatom has helped turn the armed seizure of the ZNPP into a system of unlawful administrative control. The corporation has sought to displace Ukrainian personnel, promote Russian licensing and advance plans to restart the seized reactors. Ukraine regards these actions as an attempt to legitimise the occupation of the plant and calls for sanctions to be imposed on Rosatom and the entities involved.
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles further increases the threats to the ZNPP. Ukrainian competent authorities continue to document military activity at and around the plant, including the deployment of equipment and personnel associated with the use of UAVs. In addition, Russian drones attacked facilities in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. In this regard, Ukraine called for the application of the five concrete principles established by the IAEA Director General, taking into account modern methods of warfare — in particular, prohibiting the storage or launch of drones from the plant’s territory, as well as the deployment of equipment and personnel responsible for their navigation and control.
Nuclear safety also directly depends on the stable operation of the energy system. Substations involved in transmitting electricity from nuclear power plants have already been subjected to more than 150 Russian attacks. Damage to power transmission lines reduces the safety margin, while loss of external power supply creates an additional burden on the emergency systems of nuclear power plants.
The situation at the ZNPP is not merely a matter for Ukraine. If the international community allows the consequences of the forcible seizure of a nuclear power plant to be effectively recognised, this would create a dangerous precedent: in future conflicts, any nuclear facility could become a military trophy.
