Just say these words Mr Grossi - "UKRAINE has to stop the shelling" around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the town of Ernohodar. "The shelling has to stop" is not enough; the AFU's shelling has to stop. Just tell them to stop endangering us all with their nuclear terrorism, and let everyone hear it. Tell us all what they told you in Ernohodar; tell us who was firing shells at you while you were looking at the plant! Tell Mr Zelensky to stop endangering us all by taking pot shots at the nuclear plant, and broadcast it to the Western world. Tell the BBC Mr Grossi, that it is Kiev that is firing at the nuclear plant, endangering the Ukrainian workers there. Tell the BBC that UKRAINIAN shelling started the fires that forced the shutdown of reactors and cut power supplies. We are sick of this pretence, this failure to reveal the truth, even as your own employees are telling you what it is. Broadcast it to the world that you are held under duress to tell white lies to protect the criminals in Kiev and London and Washington. Tell us what the Russian representatives and workers told you, how they showed you where the missiles came from. You've come this far Mr Grossi - you've risked gunfire and shelling to reach the plant while Ukraine tried to stop you. Will you be the man who fails at the last hurdle; the man who could have turned the tide before disaster hit? Will you stand by while AFU forces shoot their way into the nuclear plant and use it as a "human shield" like they do with residential areas, and call that "de-militarisation"? Why do you call for all forces to leave the plant when you know that Russian forces are protecting it and the workforce from Kiev's attacks? Or have you forgotten already what you saw, like this crater made by a Ukrainian shell fired from across the Karkovka reservoir:
Tell the BBC about the sabotage operation on the morning of the day you arrived at the plant; they already know as MI6 was involved, but their audience remains ignorant and won’t believe the story, even from you, so you need to spell out the details – 7 speedboats with 60 men, attempted landing 3 kms NE of the nuclear plant at 6.30 am, as described by Russian MoD spokesman Igor Konashenkov, and illustrated in this annotated 3D satellite view:
Remind them, if they missed it, of the raid and arrest by Russian security of three men planning a sabotage or kidnapping raid at the plant, discovered the day before your arrival, and filmed on body-cam. Make sure they show the photos of weapons and maps as below, and ask them to show the video again. Remember how many times we have seen their videos, cut and spliced out of order, and designed to mislead rather than inform. Here are some photos:
And the video – in this extract from Al Jazeera news 1st September:
And just to remind us what we are talking about, this is the high resolution image released by MAXAR of the nuclear plant on August 29th, published alongside one from August 20th to show the damage to the roofs of fuel storage buildings, as examined by the IAEA team: (Maxar published the photo upside down, perhaps to suggest the shelling came from the East or South, as they did with photos of Yelenovka. It is also no longer possible to see real photos of the reactor buildings, current or historic, as there is a 3D overlay of the reactors and attached sheds.) Interestingly, the point marked in pink on the maps seized in the raid and shown above, appears to be close to the main control room and the electric sub-station on the far left of this image below.
But it seems Raphael Grossi's warning was not enough - the shelling by the AFU has continued, forcing the operators to stop the one remaining nuclear reactor from generating power. The shelling appears to have damaged the inter-connector lines between the nuclear plant and the thermal coal-fired plant in Ernohodar, meaning neither plant can supply the other. In particular this means that power for the nuclear reactors' cooling systems and that for spent fuel storage must come from diesel generators, thereby relying on an ongoing supply of diesel. Raphael Grossi is emphatic on the dangers now ensuing, but Kiev and its NATO backers want to play nuclear chicken and maintain the pretence that somehow it is Russia that must withdraw. The IAEA's dramatic appeal demands attention:
DM 11 September 2022