DISINFO: IAEA experts confirmed that Zaporizhzhia plant is under Ukrainian attacks
SUMMARY
Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant certified Ukrainian bombings. They confirmed that they are under Ukrainian attacks, according to local authorities.
RESPONSE
The claim is demonstrably false. The IAEA did not report any “Ukrainian bombing/attack” in the days before this disinformation story appeared nor after it.
Although IAEA experts on the ground reported recurrent shelling in the surroundings of the plant, they didn’t attribute it to any side. As the disinformation story itself explains, the claim came from a local official appointed by the Russian occupation authorities, not from this international body (IAEA), contrary to what this manipulative headline and introductory paragraph affirm.
This is part of a wider pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, trying to lay the blame on Ukraine for the dangerous situation around this facility and thus deflect any Russian responsibility. In fact, Russia has adopted many reckless actions regarding this facility, including placing military equipment and troops inside its premises, using its surroundings as a base for rocket and missile attacks, and interrupting its power line. Besides, Russia rejected UN proposals to demilitarize the areas surrounding the plant, as it was deliberately waging a fear campaign about the risks of a nuclear disaster in order to advance its goals in Ukraine.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the Kyiv regime actions around the Zaporizhzhia plant is nuclear terrorism, that Washington and the Kyiv regime’s actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe, that Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia plant show that the US does not accept defeat, or that NATO may use Zaporizhzhia incident as a pretext to join combat in Ukraine.