UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 Russia and Ukraine on Monday traded blame before the United Nations Security Council for the attacks on Europe鈥檚 largest nuclear power plant, which the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said have put the world 鈥渄angerously close to a nuclear accident.鈥
Without attributing blame, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said his agency has been able to confirm three attacks against the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant since April 7.
鈥淭hese reckless attacks must cease immediately,鈥 he told the Security Council. 鈥淭hough, fortunately, they have not led to a radiological incident this time, they significantly increase the risk 鈥 where nuclear safety is already compromised.鈥
The remote-controlled nature of the drones that have attacked the plant means that it is impossible to definitively determine who launched them, Grossi told reporters after the meeting.
鈥淚n order to say something like that, we must have proof,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hese attacks have been performed with a multitude of drones.鈥
Zaporizhzhia sits in in southeastern Ukraine and has six nuclear reactors.
Fears of a nuclear catastrophe have been at the forefront since Russian troops Continued fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces 鈥 as well as the tense supply situation at the plant 鈥 have raised the specter of a disaster.
Ukraine and its allies on Monday again blamed Russia for dangers at the site, with the United States saying, 鈥淩ussia does not care about these risks.鈥
鈥淚f it did, it would not continue to forcibly control the plant,鈥 U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council, which met at the initiative of the U.S. and Slovenia.
Russia, for its part, said Ukraine was to blame for the attacks.
鈥淭he IAEA鈥檚 report does not pinpoint which side is behind the attacks,鈥 Russia鈥檚 U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. 鈥淲e know full well who it is.鈥
鈥淥ver the last few months, such attacks not only resumed,鈥 Nebenzia said, 鈥渢hey significantly intensified.鈥
Ukraine鈥檚 ambassador to the U.N., Sergiy Kyslytsya, called the attacks 鈥渁 well-planned false flag operation by the Russian Federation,鈥 which he alleged Russia had designed to distract the world from its invasion of its neighbor.
The Zaporizhzhia facility is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world. Fighting in the southern part of Ukraine where it is located has raised the specter of a potential nuclear disaster like the one at Chernobyl in 1986, where a reactor exploded and blew deadly radiation across a vast area.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine in recent months has been able to make significant advances along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line crossing eastern and southern Ukraine. Drones, artillery and missiles have featured heavily in what has become a war of attrition.
Russia and Ukraine have frequently traded accusations over the Zaporizhzhia plant.
The most recent strikes did not compromise the facility, which is designed to withstand a commercial airliner crashing into it, the IAEA said.
The plant鈥檚 six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.
