Tensions swirl as U.N. mission heads to Ukraine nuclear plant
U.N. nuclear inspectors set off for Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Wednesday after weeks of shelling nearby sparked fears of a Fukushima-style radiation disaster, with tensions rising between Kyiv and Moscow over the visit.
“We are now finally moving after six months of strenuous efforts,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters before the convoy set off, adding that the mission planned to spend “a few days” at the site. A Russian military force has been at the plant ever since as has most of the facility’s Ukrainian workforce who have toiled to keep the facility, which traditionally supplied Ukraine with 20 percent of its electricity needs, running.
“The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and in Enerhodar and surrounding areas remains extremely dangerous,” Ukrainian President Zelensky said late on Tuesday. “The risk of a radiation disaster due to Russian actions does not decrease for an hour.”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.
It was unclear too if Russia would allow the IAEA to set up a permanent presence at the power station, though Moscow has said it is aware that is what Grossi wants to do. 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.Zelensky in a late night address on Tuesday said Ukrainian forces were attacking Russian positions in Ukraine along the entire frontline after Kyiv announced on Monday it had launched an offensive to try to retake the south.
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