Ukrainian MFA condemns Russia's attacks on substations critical to powering NPPs and calls for imposing sanctions
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns Russia’s deliberate strikes against substations whose stable operation ensures the reliable external power supply of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
“These facilities are part of the infrastructure regularly visited and assessed by IAEA expert teams as part of missions to substations critical for nuclear safety and nuclear security in Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry noted.
The ministry recalled that for the first time since December12, 2024 — the date when the IAEA Board of Governors adopted Resolution GOV/2024/73, which highlights the direct threat to nuclear safety and nuclear security posed by attacks on external power infrastructure of nuclear power plants — Russia has again carried out targeted strikes on such substations.
“According to the IAEA, the morning military activity of 30 October damaged substations essential for the safe external power supply of nuclear power plants. Ukraine fully shares the concerns expressed in the Director General’s latest update,” the ministry said on its website on Friday.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that deliberate strikes on civilian energy facilities that directly affect the safe operation of nuclear installations bear the hallmarks of nuclear terrorism and constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law — in particular, the principles of distinction and proportionality. Such actions are incompatible with the IAEA’s Seven Indispensable Pillars, primarily the fourth pillar, which stipulates the need for a reliable external power supply for all nuclear facilities.
“Given the nature of target selection, the systematic destruction of key substations, and the correspondence between chosen targets and the external power supply schemes of nuclear power plants, there is reason to believe that representatives of Russian state-owned energy companies, including the State Corporation Rosatom, were involved in planning these attacks,” the statement reads.
Ukraine insists on holding the Russian Federation, as well as the responsible officials and corporate entities, accountable in both national and international jurisdictions.
The ministry called on partners to significantly strengthen sanctions pressure, “in particular by expanding restrictions against the State Corporation Rosatom and its affiliated entities, ensuring the complete cessation of any cooperation with them in the civil nuclear sector, and enhancing export control measures on the supply of equipment and technologies to the Russian energy industry.”