“We totally reject these accusations. We have repeatedly stated that the actions of our Armed Forces do not harm nuclear safety in Ukraine in any way and do not hinder the normal operation of the plant,” the Russian delegation said in a statement.

The statements of the Russian diplomats respond to the accusations made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the tenth review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, being held at the UN headquarters in New York.

The White House official said on Monday at a press conference that “there are credible reports” which suggest that Russia is using the Zaporozhye nuclear plant “as an equivalent to a human shield, but a nuclear shield”.

Blinken also said that “Ukrainians cannot and do not want to return fire, lest there be a terrible accident with a nuclear plant.”

The Russian representation to the UN stated that the nuclear power plant “was placed under surveillance solely in order to prevent Ukrainian nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries from taking advantage of the situation in the country to possibly organize a nuclear provocation with unpredictable consequences.”

They argued that there are no troops in Zaporozhye, except for a limited number of forces necessary to guarantee the security of the facility.

However, the Russian delegation stated that “in recent months the Ukrainian armed formations carried out a series of provocations with the use of drones, including those supplied by NATO member countries, in the surroundings of the plant”, and added that the attacks are aimed at disrupting the normal operation of the plant, intimidate its personnel, undermine the integrity of the area and, ultimately, create a threat of nuclear catastrophe.

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