KYIV, Aug 29 (Reuters) – A group from the U.N. nuclear watchdog headed on Monday to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the company’s chief stated, as Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of shelling in its neighborhood, fuelling fears of a radiation catastrophe.
Captured by Russian troops in March however run by Ukrainian workers, Zaporizhzhia has been a hotspot in a battle that has settled right into a war of attrition fought primarily in Ukraine’s east and south six months after Russia launched its invasion.
“We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility,” Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated in a submit on Twitter. learn extra
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An IAEA group he was main will attain the plant on the Dnipro river near entrance traces in southern Ukraine later this week, Grossi stated, with out specifying the day of their anticipated arrival.
The IAEA tweeted individually that the mission would assess bodily injury, consider the situations wherein workers are working on the plant and “determine functionality of safety & security systems”. It would additionally “perform urgent safeguards activities”, a reference to conserving monitor of nuclear materials.
The United Nations and Ukraine have referred to as for a withdrawal of navy gear and personnel from the nuclear advanced, Europe’s largest, to guarantee it’s not a goal. learn extra
The two sides have for days exchanged accusations of courting catastrophe with their assaults.
With fears mounting of a nuclear accident in a rustic nonetheless haunted by the 1986 Chornobyl catastrophe, Zaporizhzhia authorities are handing out iodine tablets and educating residents how to use them in case of a radiation leak.
‘BLACKMAIL’
Russian forces fired at Enerhodar, town the place the plant is situated, the chief of workers of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, stated late on Sunday on his Telegram channel alongside a video of firefighters dousing burning vehicles.
“They provoke and try to blackmail the world,” Andriy Yermak stated.
Ukraine’s navy earlier reported shelling of 9 extra cities on the other facet of the Dnipro river.
Russia’s defence ministry reported extra Ukrainian shelling on the plant over the weekend. Nine shells fired by the Ukrainian artillery landed within the plant’s grounds, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov stated.
“At present, full-time technical personnel are monitoring the technical condition of the nuclear plant and ensuring its operation. The radiation situation in the area of the nuclear power plant remains normal,” he stated in a press release.
The Russian state information company cited authorities as saying that they had downed a Ukrainian drone which deliberate to assault the nuclear-waste storage facility on the plant.
Two of the plant’s reactors had been minimize off from {the electrical} grid final week due to shelling. learn extra
Overview of Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant and fires, in Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia area, Ukraine, August 24, 2022. European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery/Handout through REUTERS
Ukrainian state nuclear firm Energoatom stated it had no new details about assaults on the plant and Reuters couldn’t confirm the accounts.
The U.S. State Department stated on Sunday that Russia didn’t need to acknowledge the grave radiological threat on the plant and had blocked a draft settlement on nuclear non-proliferation as a result of it talked about such threat. learn extra
‘ANSWER FOR ATTACKS’
In the Donetsk area of jap Ukraine, Russian forces shelled navy and civilian infrastructure near Bakhmut, Shumy, Yakovlivka, Zaytsevo, and Kodema, Ukraine’s navy stated early on Monday.
Russian strikes killed eight civilians in Donetsk province on Sunday, its governor Pavlo Kyrylenko stated.
Russia denies focusing on civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video tackle late on Sunday, vowed “the occupiers will feel their consequences – in the further actions of our defenders”.
“No terrorist will be left without an answer for attacks on our cities. Zaporizhzhia, Orykhiv, Kharkiv, Donbas – they will receive an answer for all of them,” he added.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it referred to as a “special military operation” to demilitarise its southern neighbour. Ukraine, which received independence when the Russian-dominated Soviet Union broke up in 1991, and its Western allies have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for a war of conquest.
The invasion of Ukraine has touched off Europe’s most devastating battle since World War Two.
Thousands of individuals have been killed, tens of millions displaced and cities blasted to ruins. The war has additionally threatened the worldwide economic system with an power and meals provide disaster.
The regional governor has stated Russian shelling has displaced extra civilians within the east, the place three quarters of the inhabitants has fled front-line Donetsk province, which contains a part of the broader Donbas area.
The United States and its allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for its invasion and despatched billions of {dollars} in safety help to the Ukrainian authorities.
Russia has stated sanctions won’t ever make it change its place and Western arms provides solely drag out the battle.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will journey to Sweden and the Czech Republic this week and push for extra sanctions on Russia, together with an EU-wide visa ban for Russians.
European Union overseas ministers assembly this week are unlikely to unanimously again a visa ban on all Russians, EU overseas coverage chief informed Austria’s ORF TV. learn extra
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Reporting by Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv and Reuters bureaus; Writing by Himani Sarkar and Gareth Jones; Editing by Robert Birsel and Mark Heinrich
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.