UN mission sets off for Ukrainian nuclear plant

Kyiv — UN nuclear inspectors set off in convoy for Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Wednesday after weeks of shelling nearby sparked fears of a Chernobyl-style radiation disaster, with tension rising between Kyiv and Moscow over the visit.

The team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is likely to spend the night in the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia before visiting the plant, which is in territory controlled by Russia, on Thursday.

Russian-installed officials in the area suggested the visit might last only one day, while IAEA and Ukrainian officials suggested it would last longer.

“We are now finally moving after six months of strenuous efforts,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said before the convoy departed, adding that the mission planned to spend “a few days” at the site.

“We have a very important task there to perform: to assess the real situation there, to help stabilise the situation as much as we can. We are going to a war zone, we are going to occupied territory and this requires explicit guarantees, not only from the Russian Federation but also from Ukraine. We have been able to secure that,” Grossi said.

Russia captured the plant, Europe’s largest, in early March after invading Ukraine on February 24, which it describes as a “special military operation”.

A Russian military force has been at the plant ever since, as has most of the Ukrainian workforce who have toiled to keep the facility running. It typically supplied Ukraine with 20% of its electricity needs.

Ukraine and Russia have for weeks accused each other of endangering the plant’s safety with artillery or drone strikes.

Kyiv says Russia has been using the plant as a shield to strike towns and cities, knowing it will be hard for Ukraine to return fire. It has also accused Russian forces of shelling the plant.

“The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and in Enerhodar and surrounding areas remains extremely dangerous,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Tuesday. “The risk of a radiation disaster due to Russian actions does not decrease for an hour.”

The Russian defence ministry has said that radiation levels at the plant are normal. Moscow has denied Ukrainian assertions of reckless behaviour, questioning why it would shell a facility where its own troops are garrisoned as what it describes as a security detail.

Instead, Moscow has accused the Ukrainians of shelling the plant to try to generate international outrage in the hope that will result in a demilitarised zone. Russia has said it has no intention of withdrawing its forces.

Kyiv and Moscow both claimed battlefield successes on Wednesday as Ukraine mounted a counter-offensive to recapture territory in the south. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Away from Ukraine, Russia halted gas supplies through the biggest pipeline to its top customer Germany, raising the prospect of recession and energy rationing in some of Europe’s richest countries going into winter.

Ukraine's allies have accused Russia of using energy as a weapon in retaliation for Western sanctions. Moscow denies doing so and cites technical reasons for supply cuts.

Questions and doubts

Grossi said one of his priorities was to talk to the Ukrainian technicians operating the plant. “That’s one of the most important things I want to do,” he said.

It was not immediately clear how long the inspectors would be able to remain at the power station however. Russia said it welcomed the IAEA’s stated intention to set up a permanent mission at the plant. But Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-installed administration in the area, told the Interfax news agency that the IAEA inspectors “must see the work of the station in one day”.

The US has urged a complete shutdown of the plant and called for a demilitarised zone around it.

The Interfax news agency quoted a Russian-appointed local official as saying on Wednesday that two of the plant’s six reactors were running.

The plant is close to the front lines and Ukraine’s armed forces on Wednesday accused Russia of shelling a contact line in the area and of preparing to resume an offensive there.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

Reuters