Last day, the enemy shelled populated areas in Zaporizhzhia 224 times, – Oleksandr Starukh

This was written by the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration.

“The cruelty of the invader knows no bounds and never ceases to terrify. Arriving in a civilized country, the barbarians destroy the infrastructure, under constant threat to the lives of peaceful Ukrainians who are in the line of fire.

Zaporizhzhia land experienced another “record” of enemy attacks – 224 shellings on 21 settlements in the last day alone. Another 34 destructions of civilian objects were recorded.

Every war criminal will be punished for what happened on our land!

Zaporizhzhia region is fighting!

Ukraine will win”!

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Raphael Grossi, said that the number of Ukrainian personnel at the Zaporizhzhia NPP “significantly decreased” after Russian troops occupied the facility and the nearby town

The head of the UN nuclear service emphasized that “usually about 10,000 people work at such a facility, but now the number has decreased to 3,000.” In the current conditions, this number is adequate, because “the station works at a low level. However, he added that “of course, this causes concern.”

He said that a small number of IAEA staff are doing well and can do their jobs properly. Despite “difficult moments during the conflict, the positive side is that the system at the station has shown resilience.”

The good thing is that almost a year after the beginning of the conflict in the territory with a huge nuclear infrastructure, we had very difficult moments when the facilities were working in emergency mode, and we saw the stability of the system,” he explained.

At the same time, Grossi noted that the situation remains unstable and the IAEA is “very concerned” about the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

The station has always been on the front line, in particular, on January 19, two strong explosions occurred near the ZNPP.

We know that a nuclear accident or an accident with serious radiological consequences is possible every day,” he said, noting that a protective zone around the NPP is indispensable.

According to him, there are no signs that Russia is trying to connect the station to its own network.

Asked whether Russia has shown goodwill and a spirit of cooperation, Grossi said: “I have professional cooperation with them.” He stated that Russia must adhere to the security standards that were agreed upon by all, and he plans to visit the Russian Federation in the near future.

However, the head of the IAEA is concerned that the international community may reduce attention to the situation.

It should be noted that after the liberation of Zaporizhzhіa NPP and its satellite city of Energodar, Ukrainian special forces will need at least two months to defuse all explosive devices.

The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko said that the IAEA delegation plans to deploy missions to Ukrainian nuclear power plants. They should strengthen the security of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants against the background of large-scale Russian attacks.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said the agency hopes to reach an agreement on the creation of a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by the end of this year.

Russian invaders continue psychological and physical pressure on the civilian population of the temporarily occupied and occupied territories. In particular, in the city of Energodar, Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian occupying forces forced about 3,000 workers of the Zaporizhzhia NPP to obtain so-called Russian passports.

The occupiers do not have enough personnel at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, so they are looking for “specialists” through advertisements.

Due to a shortage of personnel at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the rashists opened a recruitment of “specialists” by posting vacancy announcements.

There are not enough professional nuclear scientists, and there are critically few Ukrainians who agreed to cooperate with the fake JSC “Operating Organization of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant”.

The Russians are looking for personnel of a highly specialized nuclear profession: reactor room operators, internal combustion engine machinists, specialists in the repair of reactor and turbine equipment.

All these specialties require specialized education and experience, without which it is simply impossible to work at the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

In addition, as previously reported, rashists go to the apartments of nuclear workers, trying to get their people to work for the occupation authorities.

Russia must withdraw its troops and equipment from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, including Rosatom personnel. It is these conditions that precede the creation of a “safety zone” around the ZNPP.

The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which has been occupied by Russian troops since March 2022, remains unchanged, the units are not working. The station receives electricity for cooling the active zone of the reactors from the unified energy system of Ukraine. And the team continues to be under pressure from the Russian occupiers. Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, announced this.

According to him, the conditions in the city of Energodar are intolerable.

“In general, everything that was, remains. Unfortunately, there have been no changes for the better. The station is now used [by Russian troops] as a cover for firing in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. At the end of December, another strike was made, damaging the power lines that keep the plant in a safe cold shutdown mode to cool the reactors. The generators were restored the other day. Electricity is once again flowing into the unified energy systems of our country and provides a certain degree of security, as far as possible,” said Starukh.

The head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration noted that all the actions of the world community and international organizations regarding the de-occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP did not have any results. Therefore, in his opinion, stricter forms of pressure should be organized.

“And due to the fact that Russia simply ignores the UN charter, it is necessary to press harder, because the model on which the international organization is built is showing its inefficiency.

If the issue of the security of a nuclear facility needs to be considered on the table at the UN Security Council, and Russia is a so-called permanent member and blocks any consideration, something must be wrong. And expressing “deep concern” for the thousandth time will not lead to anything,” says Starukh.

In addition, as reported by the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, a new problem may arise later — a drop in the water level in the Kakhovsky Reservoir.

“Because it is damaged, because the occupiers are shooting everywhere. And, accordingly, a new round of problems is growing again, so our operators and engineers will have an additional burden. But so far we don’t see any changes, everything is the same as before, as it was after the seizure of the nuclear plant in early March,” Oleksandr Starukh summarized.

Due to the lack of people who agreed to cooperate and, as a result, the insufficient number of qualified personnel at the Zaporizhzhіa NPP, the invaders continue to terrorize Ukrainian nuclear workers, who are currently in forced downtime.

Racists drive around the apartments of ZNPP specialists, trying to force them to work for the fake JSC “Operating Organization of Zaporizhzhіa NPP”. Those nuclear workers who did not agree to sign contracts with the occupiers are currently idle.

“In order to force Ukrainians to cooperate, racist inhumans use all kinds of terror – from threats to kidnappings and torture “in basements.” Patriots of ZNPP, remember: even if the Rashists do not allow you to work, Energoatom will still pay you both salary and bonuses. So hang on and stay loyal to Ukraine!”, the company said.