Russian MoD: Journalists Witnessed Ukrainian Saboteurs' Failed Storming of Zaporozhye NPP

An IAEA mission led by the UN agency's chief, Rafael Grossi, arrived at the Zaporozhye NPP on September 1st to monitor the situation at the plant, which has been controlled by the Russian military since the first month of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has stated that journalists who arrived in the Ukrainian town of Energodar on September 1st witnessed Ukrainian saboteurs' failed storming of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP).

The MoD said in a statement on Sunday that while hiding in a bomb shelter, the journalists personally kept an eye on the massive shelling of the territory of the nuclear power plant and residential areas of Energodar by Ukrainian artillery.

According to the statement, at the request of the Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), “to cover the work of the IAEA mission at the ZNPP, the Russian side ensured the arrival of more than 60 reporters at the facility, including those from France, the US, China, Denmark, Japan, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries.”

The Russian MoD also said that specially-selected and trained "journalists" from Ukraine, the US and the UK were supposed to brief the international community on Kiev taking control of the ZNPP, amid preparations by the Kiev regime and its Western sponsors for an operation to seize the facility in the presence of the IAEA mission.

The Ministry also described an unauthorized attempt to attach cars with Ukrainian and Western journalists to the IAEA motorcade, which was moving to the ZNPP on September 1, as a provocation by Ukrainian authorities.

The Ministry also described an unauthorized attempt to attach cars with Ukrainian and Western journalists to the IAEA motorcade, which was moving to the ZNPP on September 1st, as a provocation by Ukrainian authorities.

“A provocation attempt was made by Kiev contrary to the scenario of the IAEA mission agreed upon by the agency’s Secretariat and the UN Department of Safety and Security. In accordance with the detailed and agreed-upon documents, access to the Russian-controlled territory of the Zaporozhye region was to be carried out strictly on the basis of the lists previously submitted to the Russian MoD by the UN Department of Security and Safety,” the Ministry stressed.

The statement came after the Russian MoD announced the destruction of two sabotage groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which landed three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant earlier this week.

The ZNPP, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River near Energodar, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of its units and output.

During Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the nuclear plant and surrounding areas fell under the control of Russian forces. According to the Russian MoD, Energodar, nearby villages and the ZNPP remain a target of intensive shelling by Ukrainian forces. Kiev, in turn, blames Moscow for the shelling. The situation around the ZNPP has raised international concerns over a possible nuclear disaster in the area.

On February 24th, Russia launched a special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine, responding to requests from the Donbass republics to protect them from Kiev.