FACT CHECK: Russians Fire at Will From Europe’s Biggest Nuclear Plant, Deny it at UN.
Speaking at the United Nations nuclear non-proliferation conference in New York on August 1, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia’s war on Ukraine “a brazen violation of international law.”
Blinken said the United States is “deeply concerned” about the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the largest such facility in Europe with six reactors on the site.
“Russia is now using the plant as a military base to fire at Ukrainians, knowing that they can’t and won’t shoot back because they might accidentally strike a nuclear – a reactor or highly radioactive waste in storage. That brings the notion of having a human shield to an entirely different and horrific level,” Blinken said.
Two days later, Russia’s U.N. mission issued a rebuttal:
“We reject the unfounded accusations that Russia prevents the IAEA inspectors from visiting the Zaporizhzhia NPP and, especially, absolutely [the] absurd speculation that a military base is allegedly being set up there.”
That is false. Credible reports say Russian troops have militarized the plant, putting up perimeter defenses, firing artillery from the grounds and effectively turning it into a base of operations shielded by the risk of a radioactive release.
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