LVIV: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Thursday for the demilitarisation of the vast nuclear power plant held by Russia in southern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, and said he was gravely concerned by the situation in and around it.
Guterres, speaking to reporters after talks in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, said that military equipment and personnel should be withdrawn from the plant and called for efforts to ensure it is not the target of military operations.
"The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, agreement is urgently needed to reestablish Zaporizhzhia's purely civilian infrastructure and to ensure the safety of the area," he said.
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for shelling the nuclear plant and on Thursday accused each other of preparing to stage a "provocation" at the vast complex.
The facility on the Russian-controlled south bank of a huge reservoir was captured by Russia in March.
"We must spare no effort to ensure that plant's facilities or surroundings are not a target of military operations," Guterres told reporters after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Earlier this month, Guterres launched a fact-finding mission into an incident in the front-line Ukrainian town of Olenivka in which prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists were killed. Russia and Ukraine both requested an investigation.
Guterres said on Thursday that the terms for the mission and the make-up of the team had been shared with Russia and Ukraine, who both need to agree to it. He said he intends to appoint Brazilian General Carlos dos Santos Cruz to lead the inquiry.
"We will now continue to work to obtain the necessary assurances to guarantee secure access to the site and any other relevant locations," Guterres said. "To put it simply, a fact-finding mission must be free to find the facts."
SHELLING
Earlier in the day, Russia said it could shut down Europe's largest nuclear power station after it came under shelling at the front lines in Ukraine, a move Kyiv said would increase the risk of a nuclear catastrophe there.
Moscow also rejected international calls for a demilitarised zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which it seized early in the war and which is still operated by Ukrainian engineers under Russian occupation.
Zelensky, who discussed the situation at the plant with visiting UN Secretary-General, called on the United Nations to ensure that it was demilitarised and protected.
"This deliberate terror on the part of the aggressor can have global catastrophic consequences for the whole world," Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app, accusing Russia of "nuclear blackmail" at the plant.
The power station sits on the Russian-controlled south bank of a huge reservoir; Ukrainian forces hold the north bank. Recent days have seen several incidents of shelling at the plant, which both side blame on each other.
Ukraine also accuses Russia of using the plant as a shield for its forces to launch strikes across the reservoir on Ukrainian-held cities, which Moscow denies.
Foreign countries and the United Nations have called on Moscow to allow in international inspectors. Reuters cannot independently confirm the military situation there or responsibility for shelling of the plant.
Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday calls for a demilitarised zone around the plant were "unacceptable". The defence ministry said Moscow could shut the plant down if it came under further attack. -- Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
