Russia asks IAEA for “clarification” on Zaporizhia report

The IAEA on Tuesday, in a statement released after a long-awaited mission to Zaporizhzhya last week, called for an end to shelling near the plant and the immediate establishment of a safety zone around the plant.

The plant has been controlled by Russian forces since March, but is still operated by Ukrainian personnel and connected to the Ukrainian electricity grid. Both Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of firing missiles at the plant, raising fears of a Chernobyl-like nuclear disaster.

Lavrov told the Interfax news agency that Moscow needs more information about the IAEA’s findings and has sent a request for more information.

“There are many issues in the report that require further clarification. I will not list them now, but we have asked the Director General of the IAEA for an explanation,” Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of pressuring the IAEA’s work on the plant.

RIA Novosti news agency quoted Zakharova as saying that Russia had provided the IAEA with full details of the source of the shelling and wondered why the agency did not mention Ukraine as the source of the attack on the nuclear power plant in its report.

He also said that Ukraine was coordinating attacks on the plant with the help of the US and other Western countries.

Ukraine has denied attacking the plant and has accused Moscow of storing heavy weapons at the nuclear plant, a charge denied by Russia.