MELITOPOL, April 18. /TASS/. Statements made by Andrey Yermak, head of Vladimir Zelensky's office, in Paris about seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine sound overly cynical in light of the Ukrainian drone attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on April 17, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large for Kiev regime crimes Rodion Miroshnik said.
On April 17, the Ukrainian army targeted the area near the ZNPP. A drone was intercepted and destroyed 300 meters from the industrial site, near a training center housing the world’s only full-scale reactor hall simulator. No casualties or damage were reported. That same evening, Ukrainian forces launched an attack on the satellite town of Energodar, which supports the ZNPP, using three kamikaze drones.
"Kiev inadvertently forgot about its commitments to [US President Donald] Trump to adhere to a moratorium on striking energy facilities. <...> In this light, Yermak's statements made in Paris about the desire to achieve a ceasefire sound more than cynical. Kiev's ability to fulfill any settlement commitments it has undertaken raises great questions. They are nothing more but empty and meaningless air waves," Miroshnik wrote on his Telegram channel.
He stressed that, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, during the 30-day moratorium period, the Ukrainian army attacked Russian energy facilities of various levels around 130 times, leaving approximately 200,000 subscribers without power. "At the outset of the moratorium, Kiev delivered a demonstrative strike on the Sudzha gas-metering station, then at the end of the moratorium it attempted to strike the ZNPP," Miroshnik concluded.
On April 17, a Ukrainian delegation led by Yermak met with US and European representatives in Paris to discuss a possible settlement to the conflict in Ukraine.