Ukraine’s Energy Ministry regards Putin's statements on Zaporizhia NPP as purposeful escalation of threat to nuclear safety
Vladimir Putin's public statements of September 2, 2025 about the introduction of new, previously unknown systems of management and control over the Zaporizhia NPP occupied by Russian aggressors should be regarded as evidence of plans to use it as a military tool in the further conduct of the war against Ukraine, the Ministry of Energy stated.
The Ministry of Energy emphasized that any attempts by the Russian Federation to introduce new forms of "management" or "control" over the Zaporizhia NPP are a purposeful escalation of the threat to nuclear safety.
"Ukraine calls on the international community to give these statements and actions a clear assessment, taking into account their potential impact on the security of the entire European continent. We call on international partners to respond immediately, in particular within the framework of the September session of the IAEA General Conference, where these threats must be clearly assessed and recognized at the international level," the Ministry of Energy said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
It emphasized that the consequences of operating the Zaporizhia NPP—which, due to the actions of the Russian Federation, is under an extra-project threat—cannot be properly assessed due to the constant military presence there. Russia attacked Ukraine with heavy military equipment and occupied a civilian nuclear facility. Russia is using force and terror to block Ukraine's legitimate regulatory and operational control over the plant, which is Ukraine's inalienable property.
At the same time, the ministry emphasized that since the occupation of the plant, the Russian Federation has allowed systemic, critically dangerous deformations in the technical functioning of this nuclear facility. It emphasized the destruction by Russia of the main source of water supply to the ZNPP due to the explosion of the Kakhovka dam, as well as its multiple disconnections from the Ukrainian power system, which have already led to the complete power outage of the plant nine times - a condition that is a direct prerequisite for a nuclear accident.
"The conditions in which the ZNPP is kept in a cold shutdown mode for a long time, under the supervision of unidentified third parties and without access by a legitimate Ukrainian operator, are fundamentally incompatible with basic nuclear safety standards for a facility of this scale," the Ministry of Energy emphasized.
As reported, earlier, at a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Beijing, Putin stated that "we can cooperate with American partners on the Zaporizhia NPP. In principle, we have also indirectly discussed these issues with them."
