Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Natalya Karmazinskaya, speaking at a meeting of the General Assembly, said that Russia considers it necessary to agree on the parameters of the protection zone around the Zaporizhzhya NPP (ZNPP) so that this does not lead to a decrease in the safety level of the facility. She pointed out that the threat of the object is the incessant shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Karmazinskaya said they have been going on since mid-July.

This, according to the Russian representative, creates a real threat to the safety of nuclear power plants and increases the risks of a man-made accident with radiation emissions.

“The last example is the shelling of the ZNPP by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on November 19 and 20,” Karmazinskaya said.

According to the representative to the UN, Moscow "did everything in its power for the efficient and safe conduct of the IAEA mission."

Agency director general Rafael Grossi proposed creating an operational and physical nuclear security protection zone around the plant, Karmazinskaya noted. She believes that now it is necessary to agree on the parameters of this zone so that this does not lead to a decrease in the degree of its protection and an increase in the threat of terrorist acts. The United States and allies, Karmazinskaya stressed, continue to ignore what is happening and are in no hurry to reason with Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, “who is actually playing with the lives of not only his country, but the entire European continent.”

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow would make efforts to create a protective zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Last week, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that the withdrawal of weapons from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which Ukraine is demanding, will be part of an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow with the agency.