Yesterday, January 4, 2024, on Facebook and several Internet resources, the so-called "opinion of an independent expert" was disseminated, which claims that Zaporizhzhya NPP was allegedly connected to the russian power system and that this happened in front of the experts of the IAEA permanent monitoring mission, who have been working at the station since September 2022.

Such narratives, which are presented under the guise of "expert opinion," are nothing more than a hostile Russian PSYOP, the purpose of which is to question the work of the IAEA permanent monitoring mission at Zaporizhzhya NPP, to accuse IAEA experts of commitment to the invaders and to destroy the progress achieved in cooperation between Ukraine and the IAEA.

We emphasize that as of today, as well as throughout the entire period of occupation, Zaporizhzhya NPP is connected to the Ukrainian energy system. All available power lines with a capacity of 750 kV and 330 kV are a part of the Ukrainian energy system. Repeated attempts by the Russian occupiers to connect ZNPP with the Russian energy system were unsuccessful.

“The IAEA mission to ZNPP acts at the invitation of Ukraine and carries out its work following the plans and requirements agreed by the Ukrainian side. The IAEA proceeds from the position that ZNPP is a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. Now our cooperation with the IAEA has moved to a higher level: we receive not only objective information about the situation and events at the occupied station, but also have a professional assessment of IAEA experts on the security situation of the occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP. Therefore, the russian federation is not interested in the awareness of the Ukrainian side and is trying in all ways to prevent this cooperation”, said Oleh Korikov, Acting SNRIU Chairman and Chief State Inspector for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Ukraine.

We consider that the dissemination of "convenient" narratives in the Ukrainian information space for the russian federation is not accidental, but is aimed at damaging the reputation of Ukraine, negatively affecting cooperation with international partners, trying to destroy the international coalition in support of Ukraine in need for de-occupation and demilitarization of Zaporizhzhya NPP and the entire territory of Ukraine. Therefore, the activities of such "experts" should be the subject of investigation for Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and special services.

We ask the mass media to be wary of such statements by "experts" and check the information on the official resources of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), SE «NNEGC «Energoatom», the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).