UN insists: all soldiers must leave the Zaporizhia nuclear plant – DW (English)

The United Nations once again requested this Tuesday (08.23.2022) the withdrawal of all personnel and military equipment from the Ukrainian nuclear plant in Zaporizhia, under the control of the invading Russian troops, and assured that preparations continue to send a mission of international experts that Assess the situation at the plant, subjected to attacks that raise fears of a catastrophe. “The facility must not be used as part of any military operation and an agreement on a secure demilitarization perimeter must be reached to ensure the security of the area,” said UN Political Affairs Officer Rosemary DiCarlo in a speech to the Security Council. According to DiCarlo, “all military personnel and equipment must be withdrawn from the plant” and both sides must prevent attacks in the area. “Unfortunately, despite numerous calls, instead of a de-escalation, we continue to see almost daily reports of worrying incidents with the plant. If these incidents continue or increase, we could face a disaster,” she said. The UN Security Council met this day at the Russian request to re-address the dangerous situation in Zaporizhia, which has been the object of attacks that have set off all the alarms. Russia blames the UN The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajarova, accused the United Nations itself of blocking the mission of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The spokeswoman assured that there is no one in the world as interested as Russia in finalizing the visit of the committee of specialists. In her opinion, the trip has not taken place as “the sad consequence of the dirty game of the United Nations Secretariat.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly said Russia’s accusations are baseless. Ukraine and its Western allies have repeatedly called for the zone to be demilitarized, and agree with Moscow that a team of inspectors needs to visit the plant. However, there is a dispute over whether specialists should come to Zaporizhia from Russian-controlled or Ukrainian-controlled territory. According to the UN, preparations for that visit by the experts are ongoing and the IAEA is in contact with all parties so that they can travel as soon as possible. DZC (EFE, dpa)