Russia believes that the management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has the right to decide on protective measures on its own.
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| Russia said that placing mines outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is a common measure to protect the facility from attack and sabotage. (Source: Reuters) |
On January 20, writing on Telegram, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna (Austria) Mikhail Ulyanov said that many mines discovered by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were necessary to guard against saboteurs.
“There is nothing unusual about the presence of mines. This is a common measure to protect the plant from attack and sabotage,” Mr. Ulyanov wrote. Affirming that the mines were located between the outer and inner fences of the power plant, a restricted buffer zone, the official said that the power plant staff did not go there.
“Mine only poses a threat to rats, crows and potential vandals,” he said.
The permanent representative of Russia to international organizations in Vienna stressed that, according to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the management of the power plant has the right to decide on protective measures on its own.
The Russian official also said that IAEA staff first discovered the mines last summer, and the agency acknowledged that protective measures were deployed in a way that did not pose any threat to the power plant's facilities or personnel.
Earlier on January 20, the IAEA announced that mines were discovered between the outer and inner fences of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, saying this contradicted the agency's security standards.
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