On Tuesday International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi revealed that an attack drone struck a vehicle carrying members of the international nuclear watchdog group who were on their way to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine for a personnel rotation. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. Russia claimed the attack drone was Ukrainian while Ukraine claimed it was Russian.
“I condemn in the most firm terms this attack on IAEA staff. Fortunately, there were no victims, and our teams are safe. The rotation has been completed. I have said in the past that attacking a nuclear power plant is a no-go. Attacking those who care for the nuclear safety and security of these plants is also absolutely unacceptable,” Grossi said, according to World Nuclear News on Wednesday.
A drone hit and severely damaged an official vehicle of the IAEA on the road to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant today, in what @RafaelMGrossi condemned as an "unacceptable" attack on Agency staff working to prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict. pic.twitter.com/XsqImDjISF
— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) December 10, 2024
It should be noted that the IAEA staff are non-combatants who are not associated with either government, rather, they are independent scientists who take care of the nuclear power plant to assure its operational safety.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned Ukraine for the attack on Wednesday.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms these actions of the Kiev regime, which has come to believe in its impunity. We note with indignation that, while committing increasingly monstrous crimes, [Ukrainian President] V. Zelensky and those who support him do not take into account either the consequences or international opinion, essentially rejecting the very concept and principles of nuclear and physical nuclear safety, which they sacrifice to their ambitions and harmful, destructive policies,” Zakharova said in a statement, according to RT on Wednesday.
The Russian statement stated that Ukraine lacked respect for humanitarian law in regards to international organization operations and as such has called Ukraine’s most powerful Western allies to cease their support for the Zelensky government.
“[The attack] demonstrates the complete disregard of the Ukrainian authorities for generally accepted norms of humanitarian law and any agreements reached, as well as a blatant disrespect for the immunity of employees of international organizations,” Zakharova said in a statement, according to RT on Wednesday. “We note that Kiev’s actions constitute an obvious provocation before the extraordinary session of the IAEA Board of Governors convened on its initiative on December 12. We call on the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies to stop any support for the Zelensky regime and take measures to bring to justice those responsible for organizing and carrying out this provocation.”
According to World Nuclear News on Wednesday, Ukraine blamed Russia for the attack.
“The agency did not attribute blame for the drone attack – which came as a convoy was moving towards the front to pick up the IAEA team which were finishing their month-long rotation at Zaporizhzhia – and Ukraine and Russia have each blamed the other side,” World Nuclear News said Wednesday.
On Wednesday Grossi was in Japan speaking at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2024. The prize, presented at the event, was awarded to Nihon Hidankyō and the Hibakusha (survivors of the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks by the U.S.). The prize acknowledged their efforts to rid of the world nuclear weapons.
🚨Watch Democrat President Harry Truman LAUGH and SMILE after nuking Japan. Nuclear war is liberal and loving🔥
— Sean Seraphim Alexander Miller (@IWArchivist) November 19, 2024
The obscene reaction is about a minute into this clip. Note it is not edited nor AI, the original was posted by the Truman Library's official YouTube account in 2019. pic.twitter.com/GybE6znUpJ
“[The] world has come to a crucial crossroads – our deep psychological connection caused by collectively seeing the horror of the consequences of nuclear war seems to be evaporating, taking with it our joint resolve to do everything possible to prevent a repetition,” Grossi said at the event, according to World Nuclear News on Wednesday. “War has returned to Europe, and it directly involves a nuclear weapon state. The conflict in Ukraine is also an indirect confrontation between the world’s biggest nuclear weapon states, the first since the end of the Cold War. But nuclear exercises and open references to the use of nuclear weapons in the theatre of this war are increasing the risks and cannot be ignored.”