IAEA financed Russia’s nuclear research in Crimea after occupation of peninsula - media
The International Atomic Energy Agency funded Russia's state scientific research in Crimea after Moscow's temporary occupation of the peninsula in 2014.
This is stated in the investigation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, whose journalists have internal documents of the agency, Censor.NET reports.
As noted, two IAEA research contracts with Russian state research institutions, which provided for field work in Crimea, were signed between 2016 and 2019. In addition, the first contract was extended in the summer of 2019.
It is stated that these contracts were "relatively small".
In a statement to Radio Liberty, the IAEA emphasized that the agency continues to recognize Crimea as Ukrainian in accordance with the 2014 UN General Assembly resolution. The agency added that the studies were "purely technical in nature" and noted that they "do not represent any change in the agency's position on the status of Crimea."
The designations employed by the contractors and the presentation of material in their reports do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IAEA concerning the legal status of any country or territory or of its authorities," the IAEA spokesman said.
In addition, he called the contractor of one of the projects, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international research center in Dubna near Moscow, "not a Russian organization, but an international intergovernmental research organization based in Russia."
Ukraine's reaction
At the same time, Ukraine's permanent diplomatic mission in Vienna, where the IAEA headquarters is located, told reporters that the Ukrainian government had not approved any IAEA research projects in Crimea.
"Our position remains clear: Ukraine strongly opposes any international projects or any other activity in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as it violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country," the diplomats commented.
