Russia tries to deceive UN over rocket attack
Kremlin accused of trying to mislead UN inspectors by insisting missile was fired from Ukrainian lines
A Russian nuclear expert told UN inspectors that a rocket made a 180-degree turn before its impact close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in an attempt to convince them it had not been fired from Russian-held territory. Renat Karchaa told the bemused group from the International Atomic Energy Agency that the cluster munition made a sudden about-turn just before hitting the ground. Six of the 14 inspectors remain at the plant and two will stay there permanently.
‘Putin is now one rocket away from causing a much bigger tragedy’
A RUSSIAN handler told UN inspectors that a rocket made a 180-degree turn before its impact close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in an attempt to convince them it had not been fired from Russian-held territory.
Renat Karchaa, a Russian nuclear expert, told the bemused group from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the cluster munition made a sudden about-turn just before smashing into the ground.
Video shared online yesterday showed him gesturing at the missile’s alleged sharp change in direction after being challenged by inspectors on the origins of the shelling.
“It fled from here and this is the direction of Nikopol,” Mr Karchaa, who was escorting the delegation, said. “It did a U-turn. In principle, it landed and spun around.”
The small city of Nikopol, which is under Ukrainian control, lies across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhzhia plant. But the rocket appeared to have been fired at the Russian-occupied facility from the opposite direction, from territory also held by Moscow’s invasion forces.
“Everyone working in the plant knows [the rocket] is Russian,” a Ukrainian former employee told The Daily Telegraph. “It cannot fly and make a U-turn.”
Meanwhile, Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said his forces “do not have heavy weapons in the area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”.
Both countries have accused one another of shelling the facility in order to use the threat of nuclear disaster as a form of blackmail.
Ukraine said yesterday it had bombed a Russian base in Enerhodar, where the plant is, to destroy artillery systems.
After weeks of negotiations, safety inspectors from the IAEA, the UN’S nuclear watchdog, managed to reach the Zaporizhzhia power plant on Thursday amid fears of a nuclear disaster.
Despite the threat of attacks on the plant, the IAEA announced that it would remain at the site. Six of the 14 IAEA inspectors have stayed behind and two more will remain there in the longer term.
Speaking in Vienna last night, Rafael Grossi, head of the UN’S nuclear watchdog, said he had witnessed evidence of repeated shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which he claimed had “violated” its structural integrity.
But Mr Grossi refused to confirm if he believed the damage to the facility was deliberate or accidental. He told reporters: “Military activity and operations are increasing in that part of the country... This worries me a lot. It is obvious that the statistical possibility of more physical damage is present.”
Footage from pro-russian journalists showed his team of 14 inspectors being showed around the plant by Mr Karchaa, an advisor to Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear firm. After his role as tour guide, Mr Karchaa was sanctioned by the Ukrainian government with other Rosatom officials.
“The whole world watched him conduct a tour for the IAEA mission to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, misinforming at every turn,” German Galushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said he hoped the mission would bear fruit, but called on the IAEA to back “demilitarisation” of the plant. “This is key to protecting all of us, all Europeans, from a radiation disaster,” he added yesterday.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister, called for an international intervention to demilitarise the plant. He wrote on Twitter: “Putin is now one rocket away from causing a much bigger tragedy at Zaporizhzhia. The only way to prevent this is an internationally enforced safe zone now.”
Yesterday, Ukraine’s state nuclear operator said a second reactor had been reconnected to the power grid after it was shut down over Russian shelling.
“As of now, two power units are operating at the station producing electricity for Ukraine’s needs,” Energoatom said on the Telegram messaging app.
Pro-russian officials, in turn, said Ukrainian forces “did not stop” shelling during the IAEA’S visit.
Alexander Volga, a Russian official in Enerhodar, said yesterday the IAEA team “was provided with relevant documents on the nuclear power plant, as well as a map of shelling” by Ukraine’s forces. But Energoatom accused Russia of “making every effort to prevent the IAEA mission from getting to know the facts on the ground” at the plant. Moscow seized the plant in the early days of the invasion. Fighting around the facility has prompted warning of a nuclear disaster, but experts say chances of a radiation leak are slim.
The plant’s reactors are designed to prevent a Chernobyl-style meltdown and are protected by domes that could withstand an aeroplane crash.
Damage to external power lines, however, raised fears that the plant’s cooling system could fail.