Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have discovered anti-personnel mines on the periphery of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), controlled by the Russian military.
“During a walkdown on 23 July, the IAEA team saw some mines located in a buffer zone between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers. The experts reported that they were situated in a restricted area that operating plant personnel cannot access and were facing away from the site,” a statement by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reads.
“Any detonation of these mines should not affect the site’s nuclear safety and security systems,” Grossi said. “But having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and creates additional psychological pressure on plant staff.”
On the evening of 22 July, the IAEA team heard several detonations some distance away from the plant.
In early July, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that Russia was “preparing a provocation” on the territory of the nuclear plant occupied by the Russian forces since 4 March 2022.
