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MOSCOW, Aug. 15 (DPA/EP) –
An official of the pro-Russian authorities in the Zaporizhia region, Vladimir Rogov, has rejected the request for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the homonymous nuclear power plant and has instead raised the possibility of agreeing on a ceasefire to avoid any incident due to bombing .
“The UN leadership and the EU’s chief diplomat should not talk about demilitarization, but about a ceasefire,” Rogov told the Russian press.
This Sunday, a declaration signed by 42 countries and the EU was published in which they demand the “immediate withdrawal” of the Russian troops occupying the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant so that the Ukrainian authorities “can resume their sovereign responsibilities within the borders of Ukraine recognized by the international community”.
This will also enable the IAEA to carry out its verification functions in accordance with Ukraine’s obligations regarding the safe maintenance of the nuclear power plant.
The declaration is signed by the member countries of the EU and also by the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, Japan or New Zealand.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has been under Russian control since March, although it is Ukrainian personnel who continue to maintain the facilities.
An IAEA inspection is pending, but the UN, Russia and Ukraine have failed to agree on an agenda for the visit. Until now, the UN has not authorized the visit of the IAEA Secretary General, Rafael Grossi, not only for security reasons but also due to disputes over his itinerary. Rossi could travel to the region via the Black Sea, to the Moscow-controlled area of Crimea, which would be perceived as an affront by kyiv.
Ukraine accuses Russia of using the nuclear power plant as a bastion to fire on the towns of Nikopol and Marhanez, on the other side of the Dnipro River. Meanwhile, Russia denounces Ukrainian bombardments against the plant using drones, heavy artillery and rocket launchers. This same Sunday, both parties have denounced one death due to bombings attributed to the opposite party.
Already on Monday the fighting has continued and Russia assures that it has killed more than a hundred “foreign mercenaries” in the last 24 hours throughout Ukraine. Among them would be Germans and Poles, according to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
In addition, Moscow has reported more than 420 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russian attacks on Kherson, in the south, and Donetsk, in the east, and the destruction of a Ukrainian command post near Bakhmut, a strategic enclave of Donetsk.
The governor of Kharkov, Oleh Siniehubov, has denounced Russian missile bombardments against industrial facilities and infrastructure in the region, although he has not reported injuries or deaths. In addition, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has reported a repelled Russian attack in Soledar and Bakhmut. There have also been Russian attacks north of Sloviansk and near Vuhledar.
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