Grossi said negotiations for the protection zone around the ZNPP were difficult due to “military problems”.

VIENNA, January 26 – RIA Novosti. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Thursday that negotiations on the creation of a protected zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are complicated by “sensitive military issues”.

Negotiations with Ukraine and Russia on the creation of a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhya NPP were “difficult, as they touched on sensitive military issues,” Grossi said.

Zaporozhye NPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper, near the town of Energodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity – the power plant has six power units with a capacity of 1 gigawatt each. It has been under the protection of the Russian army since March. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that this step is justified in order to prevent the leakage of nuclear and radioactive materials.

The Ukrainian army continues to regularly bomb Enerhodar and the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant adjacent to the city. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Kyiv regime was trying to create the appearance of a nuclear catastrophe threat by continuing to deliberately bomb the ZNPP. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly expressed the need to create a security zone around the ZNPP.