The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, says that his team was able to gather “a lot” of information in a few hours after visiting the Zaporizhzhia NPP, reports CNN.

Rafael Mariano GrossiPhoto: Twitter
  • “We managed to collect a lot of information in these few hours. I saw the key things I needed to see,” he said as he left the plant, as seen in a video released by Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Pictures published by RIA Novosti show United Nations vehicles leaving the plant, but it is unclear whether the rest of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team is still in Zaporizhzhia.

It will be recalled that on Thursday a group of UN experts arrived at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the south of Ukraine to assess the risk of a nuclear disaster.

Before the inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, new bombings took place in the area of ​​the nuclear power plant, with Russia and Ukraine again accusing each other of the attacks.

Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company Energoatom said Russian shelling had shut down one of the plant’s two operating reactors, while Moscow claimed it had thwarted Ukraine’s attempt to seize the facility, which has been held by the Russians since the start of the war.

Russia accused Ukrainian troops of attempting to seize the station and bombard both the meeting place of the IAEA delegation and the NPP itself.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that around 60 Ukrainian military personnel would have crossed the Dnieper River, which divides the territory held by the two sides, in boats on Thursday morning in a “provocation” to disrupt the IAEA visit. The Russian Ministry of Defense also stated that “measures have been taken to destroy enemy troops.” Later, Russian-appointed local official Volodymyr Rogov said that “about 40” of the 60 Ukrainian soldiers had died.

Ukrainian officials welcomed the visit of the IAEA, expressing the hope that it will lead to the demilitarization of the nuclear power plant. They say that Russia used the plant as a shield to attack the cities, knowing that it would be difficult for Kyiv’s forces to fight back.