By Ishtwan Kamel
28/03/2025
On 26 March 2025, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported damage to a diesel fuel tank on the territory of the ZNPP, which is under occupation by Russian troops, posing a critical threat to nuclear safety in Ukraine, Europe and the world.
Under international law, in particular the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, any interference with the operation of nuclear facilities during armed conflict is unacceptable. However, the Russian Federation continues to disregard these provisions and is taking actions that could lead to a large-scale nuclear disaster.
The occupying administration is incapable of ensuring the safety of the ZNPP and its actions pose a threat to nuclear safety in Europe.
Diesel generators are a crucial part of the plant’s emergency power supply. Their damage by Russia undermines the possibility of stable operation of safety systems in the event of a power failure, creating the risk of a nuclear accident similar to the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
This incident is a direct result of Russia’s reckless replacement of licensed Ukrainian experts with unqualified temporary Russian personnel.
Russia is systematically forcing Ukrainian experts to leave the plant, and replacing them with workers with no relevant nuclear experience. The incompetent management of a nuclear facility greatly increases the likelihood of a man-made disaster, as critical operations are carried out by untrained personnel.
Russian statements about “full control and safety” are part of the information war, designed to hide the real threats.
IAEA experts have repeatedly emphasized that operating conditions at the ZNPP do not meet international standards. The fact that the Russian Federation is preventing international inspectors from accessing key facilities at the plant indicates that serious violations are being covered up, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Russia systematically mines the site and prevents independent experts from gaining access. This violates the basic principles of nuclear safety enshrined in IAEA conventions and demonstrates the irresponsibility of the occupying administration, which is using the plant as a tool of nuclear blackmail.
Russia uses methods of information manipulation, distorts reality and blocks independent monitoring, making it impossible to make an objective assessment of the situation.
The Russian Federation’s actions at the ZNPP are a crime against nuclear safety that pose a global risk. The international community must immediately step up sanctions and diplomatic pressure to remove the plant and restore its safe operation.
Russia is trying to shift responsibility for threats to nuclear safety to Ukraine by accusing it of attacks, even though the ZNPP is under its own control and Ukraine does not have access to the plant.
The Russian military has deployed heavy equipment and ammunition on the territory of the ZNPP, creating a risk of unpredictable emergencies and increasing the risk of a man-made disaster.
The Russian Federation has repeatedly caused emergency shutdowns of the ZNPPs, putting the reactors at risk of overheating and getting out of control.
The only way to stabilise the situation is to fully unoccupy the plant, restore Ukrainian control over the ZNPP, and ensure unfettered access for international experts.
The international community, including the EU, the US and the IAEA, recognises the unlawfulness of Russia’s actions and stresses the need to restore full Ukrainian control over the plant.