United Nations Passes Resolution Demanding Russia Withdraw from Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on Thursday (July 11) calling on Russia to immediately return the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to Ukrainian authorities to ensure its safety and security. The resolution also urged Russia to cease its attacks on critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine.

The resolution was adopted by the 193-member General Assembly with 99 votes in favor, 9 against, and 60 abstentions.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, spoke before the vote, urging countries to support the resolution. He emphasized the responsibility to future generations, stating, “We must ensure that the terror of a nuclear disaster does not happen again.”

According to a statement released by the United Nations, the resolution also called on Russia to provide timely and comprehensive access to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission stationed at Zaporizhzhia before returning the nuclear plant. This is to ensure access to all critical areas related to nuclear safety and security inside the plant and condemned Moscow for not implementing relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Atomic Energy Agency.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is the largest in Europe and was occupied by Russian forces shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is primarily operated by Ukrainian staff. The plant has been shut down but requires external power to keep nuclear materials cool and prevent a meltdown.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed repeated concerns about the safety of the plant, which has been a target for shelling throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

During the war, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of attacking the nuclear plant and damaging power lines. Ukraine has refuted Russia’s accusations, stating it did not target nuclear facilities.

The UN resolution “calls on Russia to immediately cease attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, which increase the risk of a nuclear accident or incident at all nuclear facilities in Ukraine.”

Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, told the General Assembly before the vote that the purpose of the resolution is to “propagate false Western claims about the source of threats to Ukrainian nuclear facilities.”

He displayed what he claimed to be debris from a Ukrainian drone allegedly used in an attack on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on April 7. Ukraine has denied any involvement in the drone attack mentioned by Polyanskiy.

In the first year of the conflict, nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly representatives repeatedly voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanded a withdrawal of its troops.

The resolution passed on Thursday once again calls on Russia to “immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces.”