His inspectors International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) they arrived in the afternoon at their nuclear power plant Zaporozhyemanaged by Russiain the southeast Ukraine.

A Reuters reporter saw the IAEA team arrive at the plant, and there were a large number of Russian military personnel in the area.

Delegation he is late, amid reports of clashes around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which Russia has controlled since March. According to Reuters, the mission was “stuck” on the Ukrainian side for three hours, remaining at a checkpoint about 20 kilometers from the front line.

An IAEA spokesman said agency head Rafael Grossi personally held talks with Ukrainian military authorities, still firmly determined that the mission would arrive at the nuclear power plant during the day.

The Zaporozhye station, which is near the town of Energodar, was taken over by Moscow forces in March but is still connected to the Ukrainian power grid and run by employees of the Ukrainian state-owned electricity company Energoatom. The nuclear power plant site over the past month has been repeatedly shelled, in which Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other. The mission of the IAEA is to assess the risks of ongoing hostilities in the region.

Cross-categories for new combat

The chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier accused Russia of trying to sabotage a visit by a mission of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, noting that Russia bombed the area of ​​the plant again today.

“The Russians bombed (the city of) Energodar and the area of ​​the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant,” Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a Telegram message, accusing Russia of acting as a “terrorist state.” “Russia is responsible for everything that happens at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and Energodar,” Yermak noted and stressed: “They want the visit of the IAEA mission to be disrupted.”

A few minutes later, adviser to the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak also accused Russia of striking at Energodar. “Russia is delivering ostentatious strikes on Energodar, along the official route of the IAEA mission, in order to blame Ukraine for this,” Podolyak said, adding that this is “a sign (of Russia) of a real “interest” in the inspection.” nuclear power plant.

The Russian Defense Ministry and a Moscow-backed local official have accused Ukraine of trying to seize Zaporozhye station, saying up to 60 Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Dnieper in boats early this morning. The Russian ministry added that “measures were taken” to neutralize Ukrainian military personnel, including with the use of combat aircraft. Reuters has not yet been able to independently verify the information from either side.

Moscow: Three Ukrainian soldiers were captured near the nuclear power plant

Later, a Russian-appointed official in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region said that Russian troops captured three Ukrainian soldiers today in what he described as an attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. According to the Russian news agency TASS, Vladimir Rogov said that the radiation level at the station remains within the normal range.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is doing everything possible to ensure that Ukraine’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant can operate safely and the International Atomic Energy Organization team can complete its work, which is visiting it. Speaking at an event in Moscow, Lavrov said: “We are doing everything possible to ensure that this station is safe, that it operates safely. And so that the mission could carry out all its plans there.”

For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced today that the situation around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is “complicated but remains fully under control” following reports of shelling of the nearby town of Energodar. In a Telegram message, the ministry said it was still prepared to guarantee the safety of the IAEA mission, despite efforts by the “Kyiv regime,” as it called it, to create problems for the visit.

The Ukrainian company Energoatom, which runs a nuclear power plant in the Russian-held region, said on Thursday morning that the Unit 5 had suspended operations due to Russian shelling.

^{According to REUTERS}