War on Ukraine: IAEA team travels to Zaporizhia NPP

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to inspect the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine later this week. This was announced by her general director Grossi. Apparently, there were renewed attacks on the nuclear power plant.

After repeated shelling of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made their way there. “The day has come, the IAEA’s support and assistance mission is now on its way to Zaporizhia,” said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Twitter.

“We must protect the safety of the largest nuclear facility in Ukraine and Europe,” Grossi wrote. The mission under his leadership will arrive at the nuclear power plant “later this week”. In a photo accompanying his tweet, the IAEA chief poses with a team of 13 people wearing hats and vests with the UN nuclear agency logo.

Occupied by Russia since March

A trip by IAEA experts has been under discussion for months, but has so far failed due to a lack of security guarantees and disputes about the modalities of the visit. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe with six reactors in southern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian troops since March.

The power plant is near Zaporizhia, where more than 700,000 people lived before the war. The town of Enerhodar, which had more than 50,000 inhabitants before the Russian attack on the neighboring country, is right next to the nuclear power plant.

The site of the power plant is repeatedly shelled, for which Russia and Ukraine accuse each other. Two reactors went into emergency shutdown last week because the power supply was intermittent. The international community fears a possible nuclear accident. IAEA experts want to investigate damage and security systems on site themselves, because the information from Kyiv and Moscow is often contradictory.

Tense situation at the nuclear power plant

Kyiv initially refused to allow an IAEA mission, fearing that a visit by the inspectors could legitimize the Russian occupation of the power plant internationally. On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged IAEA chief Grossi to send a mission as soon as possible given the “dangerous” situation.

The situation at the nuclear power plant had recently deteriorated sharply. Several artillery shells reportedly fell in the town of Enerhodar, where the power station employees live, last night. Videos from both sides showed that numerous cars were burning in residential areas. As in the previous days, the Russian and Ukrainian sides blamed each other for the shelling.

Apparently nine dead

Earlier, Russian troops allegedly shot down an armed Ukrainian drone directly over one of the six reactors. Russia complained that Ukraine wanted to prevent a visit by IAEA experts to the nuclear power plant with such steps.

The escaped Ukrainian mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlow, spoke of a provocation: Russian troops had fired. He accused Moscow of “nuclear blackmail” because Russian troops are entrenched in the nuclear power plant. The night shelling of the city injured nine people, two of them seriously, said Vladimir Rogov, a member of the occupation administration.

Selenskyj announces revenge

Russian attacks were reported along the front line and from several regions in the Ukrainian hinterland on Sunday. President Zelenskyj discussed the next steps to counter the invasion with the military and security apparatus. He did not give details, but announced: “The occupiers will feel the consequences in the further actions of our defenders.”

On Monday it was 187 days since Russia started the war against the neighboring country. No attack on Ukrainian cities will go unanswered, Zelenskyy said. “Zaporizhia, Orikhiv, Kharkiv, Donbass – they will get an answer for everyone.”

Ukraine: Assaults repelled

According to the authorities, the Rivne region in northern Ukraine was also attacked with Russian rockets on Sunday evening. Two rockets also fell in the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday evening, as Mayor Ihor Terekhov announced. An administration building was destroyed.

Dozens of places along the more than 2,000-kilometer-long front line were fired upon by Russian tanks, piped artillery and rocket artillery, the Ukrainian General Staff said. Russian assaults were repelled in several places in the Donbass.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with plans to hold referendums on annexation to Russia in the occupied territories. “The decision is pending,” said the deputy chief of the presidential office, Sergei Kiriyenko. According to him, 91 to 92 percent of the population in the pro-Russian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk are in favor of joining Russia. In the Cherson and Zaporizhia areas, which have been conquered since February, it is 75 to 77 percent.