UN inspectors head to Ukraine for appearance at nuclear power plant

UN inspectors head to Ukraine for appearance at nuclear power plant occupied by Russian troops

• Fighting around the plant, which was seized in March, has sparked concerns
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned of a nuclear catastrophe 
• Ukraine says Russia is holding it hostage, storing weapons and launching attacks

UN inspectors are on their way to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote on Twitter that he and his team would arrive ‘later this week’. 

‘We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,’ he said. 

Fighting around the plant, which was seized in March, has sparked concerns, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warning of a nuclear catastrophe.

UN inspectors are on their way to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine

Ukraine says Russia is holding the plant hostage, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it. Moscow accuses Ukraine of reckless firing on the facility.

Ukraine had opposed the IAEA mission to Zaporizhzhia because officials believed it would legitimise the Russian occupation.

Yevgeny Balitsky, who heads Russia’s puppet administration in the region, said he would ‘provide evidence that Ukraine is behaving like a nuclear terrorist state.’

‘As for the arrival of the IAEA, we do not expect great results. We understand that the Americans have all the European institutions in their pockets,’ he said.

Fighting around the plant, which was seized in March, has sparked concerns, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warning of a nuclear catastrophe

The RIA news agency, a Kremlin mouthpiece, claimed that Ukraine had pierced the roof of the building where the plant’s reactor fuel is stored.

It put out pictures of a hole in the roof of what is claimed to be Special Building No. 1, where fresh fuel for nuclear reactors is held.

Pro-Russian officials claimed the Zaporizhzhia plant was hit by a 155mm artillery shell fired by the Ukrainian army from Nikopol.

There was no immediate independent verification of the pictures.

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