Ukraine calls out IAEA staff for passing via occupied territories but pins blame on Russia

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry protested on March 2 against International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) staff passing through occupied territories to carry out a rotation at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant but blamed the situation on Russian blackmail.

Moscow's "systematic attempts to impose illegal and contradictory operational mechanisms on international organizations" led to "violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" by several IAEA staff members, the ministry said.

The statement came hours after Russian occupation authorities claimed that a rotation of IAEA personnel had taken place through Russian-controlled territory.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry accused Russia of obstructing the rotation of IAEA staff at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and keeping inspectors under "unprecedented psychological pressure in a high-risk zone."

Inspectors from the IAEA, stationed at the Russian-occupied facility to monitor risks and ensure the safety of operations, are meant to rotate every 80 days.  The ministry said Russian forces had blocked staff rotations through Ukrainian-controlled territory.

"We consider the actions of the IAEA not as a rotation of experts at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant but as a humanitarian evacuation under conditions that threaten the lives and health of the agency's staff," the Foreign Ministry said in an apparent dismissal of the IAEA's capabilities of handling the situation on the ground.

The IAEA has not yet commented.

The largest nuclear plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, has been under Russian occupation since 2022. While the facility remains under Russian control, it is not currently generating electricity.

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