International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors yesterday vowed to continue a visit to a Russian-held nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, despite an early shelling attack on the town next to the facility.
“We are aware of the current situation. There has been military activity, including this morning, several minutes ago ... but we are not stopping,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told reporters.
His remarks came as Ukraine accused Russia of firing on Energodar, a town near the plant.
Photo: REUTERS
“We know there is a gray area where the last line of Ukrainian defense and the first line of the Russian occupying forces begins, where the risks are significant,” Grossi said shortly before the team left to cross the front line into Russian-held territory. “I believe we have to proceed with this. We have a very important mission to accomplish.”
An Agence France-Presse team saw them leave Zaporizhzhia City at about 8:15am.
Energodar is on the bank of the Dnipro River, bordering the plant.
Energodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov said the town of 50,000 had come under sustained attack since dawn, when Russian troops “shelled Energodar with mortars, and used automatic weapons and rockets.”
On Telegram, he posted photographs of damaged buildings in the Russian-occupied territory with smoke spiraling above them.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of deploying up to 60 “saboteurs” to the plant, which is Europe’s biggest.
“At around 6am, two groups of saboteurs from the Ukrainian army of up to 60 people ... landed ... about 3km from the Zaporizhzhia plant,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said, adding that Russian troops had taken “measures to annihilate the enemy.”
Separately, the Red Cross demanded a halt to all military operations near the nuclear power plant, warning the consequences of a strike could be “catastrophic.”
“It is high time to stop playing with fire and instead take concrete measures to protect this facility and others like it from any military operations,” International Committee of the Red Cross director-general Robert Mardini told reporters in Kyiv. “The slightest miscalculation could trigger devastation that we will regret for decades.”
The area around the plant has suffered repeated shelling, with both sides accusing each other of responsibility, sparking global concern over the risk of an accident.
Mardini said it was “encouraging” that the nuclear watchdog team was en route to inspect the plant because the stakes were “immense.”
“When hazardous sites become battlegrounds, the consequences for millions of people and the environment can be catastrophic and last many years,” he said. “In the event of a nuclear leak, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to provide humanitarian assistance.”
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