Long-awaited visit of IAEA inspectors to the Russian occupation nuclear power plant her Zaporozhye it will be considered successful if it leads to the “demilitarization” of the zone, the head of a Ukrainian nuclear energy company told Reuters today.

The head of Energoatom Petr Kotin, speaking from the Ukrainian control post on the road leading to the nuclear power plant, also said that the Ukrainian authorities are making every effort to restart the fifth reactor, which was stopped today due to shelling in the region.

Kotin called it “progress” that IAEA inspectors and agency director general Rafael Grossi were able to visit the station after months of negotiations. But he added that Russia tried to use this visit for propaganda purposes, as it excluded independent journalists.

He stressed that Ukraine’s top priority is the demilitarization of the station and the surrounding area in order to avoid a nuclear accident. “If the mission (IAEA) helps in this, then it will be successful,” he explained.

Kotin confirmed that Grossi was supposed to leave today, but the rest of the mission would remain in Zaporozhye until Saturday. A few minutes after this statement, Energoatom reported that Grossi had left, but 5 team members remained at the station. According to Reuters, the head of the IAEA has already returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}