"Symptoms" of Grossi

Russia is interested in the IAEA mission at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZPP), "we have been waiting for this mission for a long time, we consider it necessary," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, TASS reports. Peskov added that we are not talking about creating a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant, although the UN Secretary General stated that the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant should be completely demilitarized.

ZNPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near Energodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity, which is under the protection of the Russian military in order to exclude the leakage of nuclear and radioactive materials, a correspondent for The Moscow Post reports.

According to TASS, on August 30, the Armed Forces of Ukraine resumed shelling the coastal line of the city of Energodar near the ZPP. The Civil Military Administration of the city reports that over the past two hours, 17 artillery strikes of 155 mm caliber shells, presumably fired from American M777 howitzers, were recorded along the coastal line.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for short, should assess the damage caused to ZPP facilities, determine whether the main and backup safety and safety systems are functioning, assess the working conditions of personnel and perform other measures at the facility.

Political attitudes are given by

In fact, the IAEA is not a fully independent and independent body. The Governing Council for 2021-2022 includes 17 countries included in the list of "unfriendly" for Russia. The Council is led by the representative of South Korea.

Director General of the agency Rafael Mariano Grossi, representing Argentina, political scientist by education, professional diplomat. In 1998-2001, he represented Argentina in NATO, was the head of the office at the Argentine Embassy in Belgium and Luxembourg, and headed the group on the issue of the international arms register at the UN.

In 2002-2007, Grossi headed the offices of the Director General of the IAEA and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). He visited the DPRK, participated in meetings with representatives of Iran. He is the author of the monographs "Penultimate Alliance: the process of NATO expansion and a new map of international security" (1999) and "Kosovo, the borders of humanitarian interventionism" (2000).

Political attitudes for his mission to the ZPP, as it were, have already been given. According to The Wall Street Journal, the IAEA mission "against the background of fears that hostilities in the area, which damaged power lines and caused fires, could lead to a catastrophe," will check the state of the ZNPP and the radiation background. In addition, specialists will deliver some spare parts for the station.

The coordinator for strategic communications at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said at a briefing that the United States cannot monitor on whose side the shells arrive at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, that the control of the Russian armed forces over the ZPP makes Ukraine "hostage" in terms of electricity supply.

Kyiv opposed the visit of this delegation, but can use the mission as a tool in dialogue with the West and a pressure factor on Russia. Zelensky, for example, said that he expects the IAEA to assist in the "demilitarization" of the ZPP.

"The best action to ensure the safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities and its population would be to end this armed conflict now," Grossi said, speaking at a June 9 meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.

But the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to fire at Energodar, surrounding villages and the territory of the nuclear power plant, strike at critical facilities in order to cause the release of radioactive material. This was stated by a member of the main council of the military-civil administration of the Zaporizhzhya region Vladimir Rogov on the air of the Russia-24 TV channel.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces launched several attacks on the territory of the station, using, in particular, drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. The attacks reflect air defense systems, but individual NATO-caliber shells fall into infrastructure and the nuclear waste storage area.

"ASAP" stretched

The IAEA, starting from February 25, keeps a kind of diary, regularly reports on the situation at nuclear facilities in Ukraine. As of August 30, 96 summaries and statements by CEO Grossi had accumulated. The very first of them reads: "Ukraine reported that the" unidentified armed forces "took control of the facilities of the State Specialized Enterprise" Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. "

In a Statement No. 88 of August 6, the IAEA Director General expressed "serious concern over Friday's [August 5] shelling of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and reiterated the critical importance that the IAEA be able to send a nuclear safety and safeguards expert mission to the facility as soon as possible."

In his August 6 statement, Grossi said the visit - a "vital mission" - has not yet taken place through no fault of the IAEA. "Despite our determined efforts, this has so far been impossible. I won't give up. I will keep pushing. " With whom Grossi fought, and who interfered, remained behind the scenes. They say it was the UN secretariat.

On March 3 (record 9), Grossi said, referring to the Ukrainian authorities, that "a large number of Russian tanks and infantry" broke through the checkpoint "to the city of Energodar, and the" Ukrainian regulator "added that the troops were moving directly to the site of the nuclear power plant. Record number 10 of March 4 reported night shelling of the territory of the ZPP, and Record 11, made on the same day, said that "Ukraine informed... that Russian troops took control of the facility. "

The Russian side, named in Grossi's records "Ukrainian partners, informed the IAEA that at night a shell hit the training building in the immediate vicinity of one of the reactor blocks of the station, causing a local fire, which was extinguished. Grossi further states: "The shelling of a nuclear power plant violates the fundamental principle that the physical integrity of nuclear facilities must be maintained and kept safe at any time." The next day, he said that Kyiv also reported a fire in the training building. Therefore, the "Ukrainian partners" (that is, Russia) reported the shelling earlier!

Grossi's motto "as soon as possible" to organize a mission to the ZPP stretched for a long 25 days, during which the shelling of the station continued, people at the station itself and beyond were injured and killed. Nevertheless, the hope that the conclusions of the IAEA delegation following the visit to the Zaporizhzhya NPP will be objective and unbiased remains. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, adding that "the Russian side proceeds from the fact that the IAEA delegation consists of professionals in its field.

Chief professional and his team

On the anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy on April 26, Grossi's chief professional laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the 1986 accident, paid a visit to Zelensky, reported on the results of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant survey.

According to The New York Times and CNN, Grossi's team included 11 people, including representatives from Albania, Jordan, Italy, China, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Serbia, North Macedonia, France. They will study nuclear safety at the station, but not political and military issues.

Academician Alexei Arbatov, head of the Center for International Security of the IMEMO RAS, said in this regard: "We have no other body to inspect such objects... Any such facilities shall be available for inspection.... If they want to show them traces of artillery strikes, then they will show, although I think that, looking at these funnels, the IAEA will not be able to make any conclusion, they can only say: in dangerous proximity or not, what threat certain traces of artillery strikes created for these critical nuclear facilities. "

Reading into Grossi's diary

Entries and statements in the IAEA diary on Ukraine may give some idea of ​ ​ the style and features of the agency's work.

March 6 - full-time personnel continue to operate the ZNPP, its leadership obeys the orders of the commander of the units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, which took control of the site... the station management must obtain prior consent from the Russian commander for any actions... Russian armed forces shut down some mobile networks and the Internet on the site. Further, on March 7, Grossi reiterates that the subordination of NPP personnel to the military command of the Russian Federation contradicts one of the integral components of nuclear safety.

March 9 - "At the Zaporizhzhya NPP site there are four external high-voltage power lines (750 kV) plus one additional line in reserve. The operator informed the IAEA that two lines were damaged and, accordingly, at the moment two power lines remained available at the station, plus one in reserve. " This is "another example of how one of the security components was violated regarding the provision of reliable external power supply to all nuclear facilities from the power grid," said annoyed Grossi.

March 10 - Today in Antalya, Turkey, he held talks with the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia. Upon returning to Vienna, he held a press conference. And so on and the like in the spirit of biography until August 9, when shelling resumed, about which Kyiv informed the IAEA, saying that on Saturday there was a shelling of the territory near the storage facility of dry spent fuel!

On August 28, the UN already reported with reference to Grossi that shelling in the ZPP area was carried out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but Ukraine does not yet have complete information about the nature of the damage, UN News reported. In an updated Statement Number 96 of August 28, Grossi reports that "the latest shelling once again highlighted the risk of a potential nuclear accident at the ZPP, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which has been controlled by Russian forces since early March but operated by Ukrainian personnel."

Finally, according to Grossi, delivered at a June 9 meeting of the Governing Council, his agency "works closely with Ukraine to resolve what needs to be done to maintain the highest possible level of security at the country's nuclear facilities and continue nuclear guarantees."

These words - "IAEA works closely with Ukraine" - are explained by everyone. Kyiv regularly reports on the shelling of the ZPP, which has already become for the bureaucrats of the Zaporizhskaya agency. Bureaucrats, on this data are preparing the next, copyrighted written statement by Grossi. Meanwhile, the shelling of a nuclear power plant subordinate to the "Russian military command" continues to remain nameless for the IAEA and the UN!

And what to count on?

According to Grossi, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday there were shelling in the area of ​ ​ the ZPP, but Ukraine, for obvious reasons, "does not yet have" complete information about the nature of the damage. Damage caused to the Armed Forces of Ukraine! There is feedback, but it is more reliable to check the amount of damage through the Zaporozhye authorities and the Russian media, and not through Kyiv. But at least the radioactivity at the ZPP site was within normal limits, there were no signs of hydrogen leakage, the general director said, once again referring to information from Kyiv.

Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that IAEA employees intend to monitor the situation at the station on an ongoing basis. Ukraine also proposed to consider the possibility of a permanent presence of agency representatives at the site. Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, would welcome the constant presence of the agency's experts on the territory of the ZPP.

Everyone agrees. So, obviously, it will be. As Grossi himself said on June 9 at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors: "The best action to ensure the safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities and its population would be to end this armed conflict." Also correct, the time will come, only then all information about the state of this and other nuclear power plants will have to be received not from Kyiv!

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