It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, occupied by the Russians since March 2022. The Ukrainian site of Zaporizhia, near which two mines recently exploded, worries the authorities and experts.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned Thursday, April 13 that this plant, which houses six nuclear reactors, continued to depend on a single power line still in operation. This constitutes “a major risk for nuclear safety and security”.
Zaporijia power plant: “We are on borrowed time”, warns the head of the IAEA
Rafael Grossi, estimated Thursday that we were “suspended” concerning the “safety” of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. “If we do not act to protect the plant, our luck will run out sooner or later, with potentially serious consequences for human health and the environment”, warned Rafael Grossi in a press release issued in Vienna, where the headquarters of the IAEA.
Two landmine explosions occurred outside the fence surrounding this site, the first on April 8 and another four days later, the statement said. It is not yet known what triggered the explosions, said Rafael Grossi, who met with senior Russian officials in Kaliningrad (western Russia) last week. He had gone to the Zaporijia power plant shortly before, for the second time since the start of the war in Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency also noted that the personnel situation at the plant remained “complex and difficult”, including due to staff shortages.
Wagner on EU sanctions list for his activities in Ukraine
The European Union (EU) on Thursday added the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner to its list of individuals and entities sanctioned for “active participation in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine”. This group of mercenaries, which is fighting in eastern Ukrainian territory to try to seize the cities of Bakhmout and Soledar, had already been placed in February 2023 on another EU sanctions list for violating human rights. Man and “destabilization” of countries in Africa.
The European Council, which represents the 27 member states of the European Union, explained that the new list of sanctions “complements” the previous one. Wagner, he continued, was listed there for “actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.”
The fact that this paramilitary organization is thus doubly sanctioned “underlines the international dimension and the seriousness” of its activities, as well as “its destabilizing impact on the countries where it is active”, noted the Council in a press release.
Russian prosecutor’s office begins review of Ukrainian soldier’s beheading video
The Russian prosecutor’s office said on Thursday it had begun examining a viral video showing a Russian-speaking individual in uniform beheading with a knife a person who appears to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war. “In order to determine the authenticity of this content and draw the necessary (judicial) conclusions, (the video) has been transmitted to the investigative bodies for examination”, indicated the prosecutor’s office on its Telegram channel. This decision is a preliminary step which may or may not lead to the opening of a criminal investigation.
The prosecutor’s announcement is nevertheless unusual, as Russia usually immediately, systematically and wholesale denies the accusations of war crimes brought against its troops in Ukraine, such as the summary executions of Boutcha.
On Wednesday, after Kiev blamed members of Russian forces for the beheading, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the footage “horrible” but said its “authenticity” had yet to be established. The Russian Public Prosecutor’s Office, in its press release, notes that the images seem to have been filmed “in the summer”, thus suggesting that the scene could have taken place in 2022.
Moscow says to block Ukrainian forces in Bakhmout, kyiv denies
Russia said on Thursday that it was blocking Ukrainian forces in Bakhmout and preventing any reinforcements from entering it, hinting that it was about to take this eastern city, the epicenter of fighting since last summer.
In a comment to AFP, the Ukrainian army immediately denied this, claiming to continue to supply its troops in Bakhmout and inflict daily “crazy losses” to the enemy. Wagner’s leader, Evgueni Prigojine, whose fighters are on the front line in Bakhmout, told him that it was still “premature” to speak of a complete encirclement. A city of some 70,000 inhabitants before the invasion, the city is now almost totally destroyed.