IAEA detect anti-personnel mines in ZNPP buffer zone

This was announced by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, on July 24.

During a round on 23 July, the IAEA team saw some mines located in a buffer zone between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers. The team did not observe any within the inner site perimeter during the walkdown.

"As I have reported earlier, the IAEA has been aware of the previous placement of mines outside the site perimeter and also at particular places inside. Our team has raised this specific finding with the plant and they have been told that it is a military decision, and in an area controlled by the military,” Director General Grossi said.

The head of the IAEA emphasized that the presence of explosive substances at the ZNPP site is contrary to the norms and standards of nuclear safety. The IAEA continues to demand access to the roofs of the ZNPP reactors and their turbine halls, including units 3 and 4, the organization's report says.

The agency also reports that in the evening of 22 July, the IAEA team heard several detonations some distance away from the plant.

ZNPP situation 

Russian forces occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, there has been a constant presence of personnel and military equipment, which the invading Russian troops store in machine rooms and occasionally deploy to positions for shelling the territories of the Nikopol district in the Dnipropetrovsk region, located on the other side of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a monitoring mission at the station, which is supposed to ensure that the nuclear power plant is not used as a military base, that it is not attacked, and that no fire is initiated from the NPP. Power outages at the nuclear power plant occur regularly though. Occupiers began importing explosives to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant last year.

In May 2023 information emerged that the Russian forces had placed explosives in the turbine room of the  ZNPP’s fourth power unit. Additionally, the invading Russian forces have nearly completely destroyed the emergency readiness and response system at the nuclear power plant.

On June 22, the Director-General of the IAEA, after visiting ZNPP Grossi, stated that the situation at the plant is extremely unstable. On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that intelligence had received information that Russia was considering a scenario for a terrorist act at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which would cause a radiation release.

The Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that Russia has completed preparations for a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. On June 29, large-scale exercises were held in four regions of Ukraine to prepare for a possible terrorist attack on the ZNPP.

On June 30, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported that the occupying Russian forces were gradually leaving the ZNPP, and that Ukrainian employees who had signed a contract with Rosatom also received evacuation recommendations. In addition, the plant's staff received an order to blame Ukraine in any emergency situation.

On July 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces officially reported that Russian troops were preparing a provocation at ZNPP: Russians placed suspicious devices similar to explosives on the roof of power units 3 and 4.

On July 5, during a meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation, the European Union made a statement that Russia must immediately stop actions that threaten the safety of nuclear facilities and withdraw its troops from Ukraine. At the same time, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the agency had not detected any signs of mining at ZNPP. According to him, despite this, experts are "extremely wary". Subsequently, satellite images from Planet Labs, taken on the morning of July 5, showed unknown objects on the roof of the fourth power unit of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The General Staff had previously reported that this particular power unit had been mined.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said on July 6 that the threat of a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhzhia NPP was decreasing. However, the president of Energoatom later said that about 700 Russians are currently at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The plant is mined, and machine gun nests are placed on the roofs of the power units. Energoatom also reported that the occupiers allow specialists from the Russian Federation to work at Zaporizhzhia NPP who do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to operate the plant.

On July 6, the first deputy head of Putin's administration, Serhiy Kiriyenko, arrived on the territory of the occupied ZNPP. The visit took place amid the publication of information about the Russians' mining of the ZNPP. 

On July 7, the United States in the OSCE called on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from ZNPP and return it to Ukrainian control, as it was concerned about reports of Russia's mining of the plant and plans for a "false flag" operation.

Also on July 7, the IAEA reported that its mission was able to inspect several facilities at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, except for the roof, but found no signs of explosives.

Ukrainian intelligence noted that the occupiers continue to mine the Zaporizhzhia NPP and facilities on the station's territory. Explosives and mine-explosive barriers are installed. The Ministry of Defense emphasized the enemy's mining of technical facilities and engine rooms.

On July 14, it was reported that about 500 Russian military personnel and Rosatom employees are currently stationed at the ZNPP, in particular, they use the station to shell the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Later, the president of Energoatom, Petro Kotin, reported that the Russians continue to mine the ZNPP. The occupiers also use the station as their military base.

On July 19, Ukrainian intelligence warned that Russia plans to carry out another armed provocation on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "under a false flag." The very next day, it was reported that the Ukrainian staff of the ZNPP refused to start the fourth power unit, which was ordered to start by the illegally appointed Russian management. Because of this, the occupiers brought workers from six Russian nuclear plants to Zaporizhzhia NPP.

On July 24, Russian invaders put the fourth power unit of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a "hot shutdown" state, which is a violation of the nuclear legislation of Ukraine