Any Ukrainian attack on Moscow would be a “concern” for the West, former deputy chief of the defence staff Lieutenant General Simon Mayall has told Sky News, after Russia said today it had shot down eight drones.
Neither side commits to UN plans to avoid ‘catastrophic’ nuclear incident
Neither Russia nor Ukraine have explicitly committed to respect five principles laid out by the UN’s nuclear watchdog “to avoid the danger of a catastrophic incident” at Europe’s largest power plant.
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi proposed the pledges to the UN Security Council yesterday as part of a months-long attempt to safeguard the Zaporizhzhia plant from military activity.
Russia said it would do all it could to protect the power plant, which it has occupied for more than a year, but did not explicitly commit to abide by Mr Grossi’s principles.
It said the proposals were “in line” with measures already implemented by Russia, despite reports earlier this year that its troops had installed sandbag defences on top of nuclear reactor buildings.
Power has been cut to the plant several times due to shelling over the past year, which is required to cool the reactors and prevent a meltdown.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said the principles “must be complemented with the demand of full demilitarization and de-occupation of the station”.
Mr Grossi’s five principles demand there be no attacks on or from the plant, and that no heavy weapons be housed there.
He described the situation as “extremely fragile and dangerous,” adding that “military activities continue in the region and may well increase very considerably in the near future.”