Russia denies explosions near Zaporizhzhia NPP, calls IAEA director’s statement ‘provocation’
A series of powerful explosions took place near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on January 25–26, report the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
On January 25, says the IAEA report, “eight strong detonations” caused the windows to vibrate at the power plant, inviting concern about the facility’s safety. Explaining that blasts were registered almost daily “in recent day and weeks,” Grossi called for establishing a nuclear safety zone around the facility.
In response, Rosenergoatom advisor Renat Karchaa denied Grossi’s reports, insisting, on behalf of the Russian side:
I cannot qualify this as anything other than a provocation. Before releasing this kind of information, one has to verify it and determine what happened, instead of relying on one’s hearing. On the one hand, they’re trying to prove that they’re busy doing something useful, on the other hand, they want to inject Western public opinion with the idea that Russia is unable to manage nuclear safety.
The Zaporizhzhia NPP has been under Russian control since the first days of the invasion. In October 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered the facility’s appropriation and transfer to Russia as state property.