IAEA finds no evidence of Russian mining at Zaporizhzhia NPP

He said this at a briefing in Japan, Interfax reports.

Grossi said he was aware of the statements from both sides and claimed that he had been in contact with experts from the IAEA's permanent mission at ZNPP several hours ago.

"I was in contact with the experts of the permanent mission at ZNPP today, just a few hours ago. We are aware of the allegations and statements made by both sides... During our recent inspections, we have not found any signs of mining, but we remain extremely alert," he said.

Grossi added that "there is no time to relax" and promised to keep the situation at the plant under regular review.

Information available regarding the situation at ZNPP

Russian troops occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, personnel and military equipment have been permanently stationed there, which the invading forces store in the machine rooms and from time to time bring to positions to shell the territories of the Nikopol district, Dnipropetrovsk region, located on the other side of the Kakhovka reservoir.

An IAEA monitoring mission is working there to ensure that the plant is not used as a military base, that the plant is not attacked or fired upon, and that external power supplies are not interrupted. However, blackouts at the NPP occur constantly. Since last year, Russian troops have started bringing explosives to ZNPP.

In May 2023, Russian forces had placed explosives in the turbine room of the fourth power unit of the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP. They also almost completely destroyed the emergency preparedness and response system at the nuclear power plant.

On June 22, IAEA Director General Grossi said after visiting ZNPP that the situation there was extremely unstable. 

On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that intelligence had received information that Russia was considering a scenario of a terrorist attack on the temporarily occupied ZNPP that would cause a radiation release. He also emphasized that the world has enough power to prevent any radiation incidents - it needs to put pressure and act.

The head of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Russia has completed preparations for a terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

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.

In his turn, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive and the process of Ukraine regaining control over ZNPP would continue even despite Russian nuclear blackmail.

On 2 July, the mayor of the temporarily occupied Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said that some Rosatom employees and collaborators who had signed a contract with the company had left ZNPP.

On Tuesday, 4 July, the Armed Forces of Ukraine officially reported that the Russian occupying forces were preparing a provocation at ZNPP: Russians had placed suspicious devices similar to explosives on the roof of the third and fourth power units.

At night, on 4 July, Zaporizhzhia NPP lost power from the main power line, and the plant was connected to the only available backup line.