Mr President,

Ukraine listened carefully to the joint statement and subsequent national statements delivered under this agenda item.

We welcome the fact that the issue of prohibition of attacks against nuclear facilities has been raised, and that such attacks are claimed to be unacceptable.

For Ukraine, this remains to be a matter of utmost importance.

There is, however, a certain irony that should not be lost in this room.

For one of the authors of today’s statement the attacks against nuclear facilities are not a matter of theory, but of actual practice.

On the very first day of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, on 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation took military control of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant site and its nuclear and radioactive waste facilities. Russian forces remained there until 31 March of the same year.

Just days later, on 4 March 2022, the world was able to watch in real time as Russian armed forces launched a military assault on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

And let us be very clear about what happened that night.

The nuclear power plant site came under fire during Russia`s attacks aimed to seize it. Projectiles struck buildings at the facility, the training centre was significantly damaged, a fire broke out, and other buildings and equipment on the site were damaged. Russian forces then seized control of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

This was not a hypothetical “threat of attack”.

It was a physical military attack against a nuclear power plant, followed by its seizure and occupation.

And, unfortunately, the pattern did not end in March 2022.

On 14 February 2025, a Russia`s drone struck the New Safe Confinement at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant — the structure built by the international community to contain the consequences of one of the world’s worst nuclear accident. The strike caused a fire and serious damage to the confinement structure.

And on 7 June 2026, there was another Russian drone attack against Ukraine`s peaceful nuclear infrastructure — this time against the Centralised Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility. The container reception building was partially destroyed, and adjacent buildings, including premises used by the IAEA experts, were damaged.

So, for one of the authors of today’s statement, attacks against nuclear facilities are not an abstract legal concept.

Nor is the military seizure of nuclear facilities a theoretical scenario.

Few delegations in this room can claim such extensive first-hand experience with the subject of attacks and seizure of nuclear facilities.

Ukraine therefore takes note of the Russian Federation’s newly expressed condemnation of attacks and threats of attack against nuclear facilities.

We hope that this evolution in rhetoric will soon be followed by an evolution in conduct.

Nuclear facilities must not be attacked.

They must also not be seized by military force.

They must not be occupied.

They must not be militarized.

And they must not be used to support military operations.

If the Russian Federation genuinely wishes to demonstrate its declared commitment, it does not need another joint statement to do so.

It can start with withdrawal from the nuclear power plant it attacked, seized and continues to occupy, namely, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Thank you, Mr President.