The High Representative for the EU's Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, has criticized Russia's "incessant" attacks on the structure designed to isolate the damaged Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Ukraine, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the tragic nuclear accident.
Kallas has censured the Soviet "secrecy" that until recently prevented the full extent of the catastrophe from being known. "Even today, Moscow's incessant attacks against the New Safe Confinement of Chernobyl, the structure built to contain the remains of Reactor 4, undermine decades of international efforts and an investment of up to 2.1 billion euros to mitigate the consequences of the disaster," she stated.
The head of European diplomacy has likewise brought up "the illegal seizure and Russian occupation" of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, located in southern Ukraine, underscoring that it is the largest atomic plant in Europe. "It significantly increases the risk to human life and the environment," she reproached.
Likewise, he has lamented Russia's "systematic attacks" against the Ukrainian electrical grid, which "threaten the stable balance necessary for the safe operation of nuclear facilities".
For all these reasons, it demands from Russia the "immediate cessation" of any offensive against nuclear infrastructure in Ukraine and full respect for the Seven Indispensable Pillars for Nuclear Safety in a context of armed conflict.