IAEA's 35-nation Board condemns attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure

By Francois Murphy

The U.N. nuclear watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday condemning attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, but failing to mention Russia as the culprit.

Ukraine called Thursday's emergency International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board meeting to discuss a wave of attacks on Nov. 28 that Russia unleashed on its energy infrastructure, triggering deep power cuts across the country.

The drone and missile attacks hit electricity sub-stations used by three of Ukraine's nuclear power plants to receive and transmit off-site power, which is critical to their safety since that power is necessary to cool their nuclear fuel and avoid a potentially catastrophic nuclear meltdown.

Diplomats at the closed-door meeting in Vienna said 22 countries voted in favour of the resolution with 10 abstaining and two, Russia and China, voting against. Unlike previous Board resolutions on Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, however, it failed to mention Russia by name.

"The Board of Governors ... emphasises that attacks targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure critical for the off-site power supply of nuclear power plants represent a direct threat to nuclear safety and security," the resolution said.

The last Board resolution on Ukraine was in July, condemning a military strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv and blaming Russia. Ukraine sees such resolutions as a way of pressuring Moscow on the international stage, though texts are often watered down to gain wider support.

Soon after last month's attacks, President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had struck in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.S. medium-range ATACMS missiles.

He said Russia's future targets could include "decision-making centres" in Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of a "despicable escalation", saying it had used cruise missiles with cluster munitions.