mines have been relocated around the Zaporizhzhia power plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency

A permanent threat. Mines have been relocated around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assured on Friday January 19. In the hands of Moscow’s forces since March 2022, the largest power plant in Europe has been hit several times by power outages linked to the fighting and the Russian army regularly accuses Ukraine of threatening it. The mines had been removed in November, but they were reinstalled, which is “incompatible with IAEA security requirements”according to its press release.

The agency still does not have access to several parts of the plant, the IAEA complained. Moscow had cited security reasons at the beginning of the month to limit this access. Tensions between Moscow and kyiv on the subject are recurrent, and the IAEA acts as mediator, while ensuring the security of the site alongside the Russians.

The Zaporizhia power plant is located in Energodar, along the Dnieper River which serves as a natural front line between the Russians and Ukrainians. The site is also located 50 km as the crow flies southwest of the city of Zaporizhia.