The Russian administrator of the occupied region of Zaporizhia, Vladimir Rogov, has accused the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, of carrying out an exercise in “cynicism” by proposing the withdrawal of the Russian military from the nuclear power plant in the town, since months ago under the crossfire of the forces of kyiv and Moscow in combats that have intensified in recent days, knowing, according to the administrator, that this departure would leave the place in the hands of Ukraine, with “terrible” effects.
Rogov has valued Guterres’s general proposal, that is, the creation of a security zone around the plant without a Russian or Ukrainian military presence, as a request for capitulation for Moscow. “It’s not even hypocritical or stupid: it’s outrageous cynicism,” the administrator said in statements to the Rossiya 1 network, collected in turn by the Russian agency TASS.
“(Guterres) fully understands that the withdrawal of our teams from Zaporizhia leaves a place defenseless that will be immediately damaged by Ukrainian attacks, which will have terrible consequences,” he added.
Moscow and kyiv have blamed each other for attacks on the plant, intensified since last weekend, which have caused damage to used fuel stores or power lines. Faced with the nuclear disaster feared by the UN nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Western community, led by the United States, has advocated the creation of a demilitarized zone.
In fact, a unit of one of the reactors would have been disconnected from the electrical network, activating its emergency protection system and putting the generators into operation to guarantee the electrical supply. Although in the preliminary assessment, IAEA experts have indicated that there is “no immediate threat” to nuclear safety, they have warned that “this could change at any time.”
Rogov has taken the opportunity in this regard to reproach Guterres for the fact that, given the seriousness of the situation, he has not held anyone responsible for these attacks and instead “has decided to introduce a new concept: that of a nuclear power plant that is bombed herself”, and “has dedicated herself to doing homework for the Ukrainians, who are literally nuclear terrorists”, in an “absolutely irresponsible” way.
