The IAEA reports do not say that the fire at the Enerhodar NPP was caused by the Ukrainian armed forces. During the inspection of the fire site, experts did not find any tires or drone debris. The IAEA also noted that the main fire was unlikely to have started at the foot of the cooling tower at the plant and identified dark burn marks inside the concrete walls.
Russia once again blames Ukraine for the incidents at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and claims that Ukraine threatens global nuclear safety. This time, the Kremlin’s media reports that IAEA experts have allegedly admitted that the fire at the plant was caused by Ukrainian army shelling.
In the evening of August 11, a severe fire broke out on the territory of the ZNPP, with smoke coming from the cooling tower (a device for cooling large amounts of water with a directed stream of atmospheric air – ed.) Ukrainian authorities claimed that the fire was started by the Russian military. Instead, Russia claims that the nuclear power plant was shelled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and that «this event can be characterized as an act of nuclear terrorism.»
However, the fire did not affect radiation safety. The press service of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine confirmed that no excess of radioactive emissions and discharges was recorded.
To support its disinformation, the Kremlin decided to use the reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), claiming that the agency’s experts had confirmed their accusations. However, the IAEA reports on the situation at ZNPP do not mention that the fire was caused by the Ukrainian armed forces.
Thus, the report of August 12 states that based on observations, the team concluded that the main source of the fire was unlikely to be located near the foundation of the cooling tower. Experts also noticed burnt areas of internal equipment, drops of burnt plastic and concrete fragments scattered around the cooling tower’s cold water pool, but found no tires or drone remains.
In a report on August 13, the IAEA confirmed that the evidence provided to the team continues to indicate that the fire on Monday did not start at the foot of the cooling tower. The experts were provided with copies of photographs and videos that confirmed significant damage to internal components at the level of the water nozzle distribution.
It is worth noting that in local groups in Enerhodar on the day of the fire, residents indicated that plastic structures in the cooling tower were most likely set on fire to organize a provocation.
Earlier, StopFake also debunked other similar fakes about the situation at the Russian-occupied ZNPP in pieces like Fake: The IAEA is «Satisfied with State of ZNPP under Russian Control», Manipulation: IAEA Denies Russian Troops Mined Zaporizhzhia NPP, Fake: Russia «Isn’t Deploying Offensive Weapons» at ZNPP.
