Questions, tensions swirl as U.N. mission heads to Ukraine nuclear plant
Send a link to a friend
[August 31, 2022]
By Tom Balmforth
KYIV (Reuters) -U.N. nuclear inspectors set
off in convoy for Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Wednesday
after weeks of shelling nearby sparked fears of a Chornobyl-style
radiation disaster, with tensions rising between Kyiv and Moscow over
the visit.
A Reuters reporter following the team from the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, said it was
likely the inspectors would overnight in the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia
before visiting the plant, which is on territory controlled by Russia,
on Thursday.
Russian-installed officials in the area suggested the visit might last
only one day, while IAEA and Ukrainian officials suggested it would last
longer.
"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.
"We have a very important task there to perform - to assess the real
situation there, to help stabilise the situation as much as we can. We
are going to a war zone, we are going to occupied territory and this
requires explicit guarantees, not only from the Russian Federation but
also from Ukraine. We have been able to secure that," said Grossi.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/31/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
Russia captured the plant, Europe's largest, in early March as part of
what Moscow calls its "special military operation", something Kyiv and
the West have described as an unprovoked invasion designed to grab land
and erase Ukrainian identity.
A Russian military force has been at the plant ever since, as has most
of the Ukrainian workforce who have toiled to keep the facility, which
traditionally supplied Ukraine with 20 percent of its electricity needs,
running.
For weeks now, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of endangering
the plant's safety with artillery or drone strikes.
Kyiv says Russia has been using the plant as a shield to strike towns
and cities, knowing it will be hard for Ukraine to return fire. It has
also accused Russian forces of shelling the plant.
"The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and in Enerhodar
and surrounding areas remains extremely dangerous," Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Tuesday. "The risk of a radiation
disaster due to Russian actions does not decrease for an hour."
The Russian defence ministry has said that radiation levels at the plant
are normal.
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.
Moscow has in turn accused the Ukrainians of shelling the plant to try
to generate international outrage that Kyiv hopes will result in a
demilitarised zone. Russia has said it has no intention of withdrawing
its forces for now.
Kyiv and Moscow both claimed battlefield successes on Wednesday as
Ukraine mounted a counter-offensive to recapture territory in the south.
Reuters could not independently verify such reports.
Away from Ukraine, Russia halted gas supplies through the biggest
pipeline to its top customer Germany, raising the prospect of recession
and energy rationing in some of Europe's richest countries going into
winter.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/083122PIX/news_j31.jpg)
Members of International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) mission stand by UN vehicles at hotel as they depart
for visit to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant amid Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine August 31, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb
Garanich
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Aug/31/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
Ukraine's allies have accused Russia of using energy as a weapon in
retaliation for Western sanctions. Moscow denies doing so and cites
technical reasons for supply cuts.
QUESTIONS AND DOUBTS
Grossi said one of his priorities was to talk to the Ukrainian
technicians running the plant.
"That's one of the most important things I want to do and I will do
it," he said.
It was not immediately clear how long the inspectors would be able
to remain at the power station however.
Russia said it welcomed the IAEA's stated intention to set up a
permanent mission at the plant.
But Yevgeny Balitsky, head of the Russian-installed administration
in the area, told the Interfax news agency that the IAEA inspectors
"must see the work of the station in one day".
The United States has urged a complete shutdown of the plant and
called for a demilitarised zone around it.
The Interfax news agency quoted a Russian-appointed local official
as saying on Wednesday that two of the plant's six reactors were
running.
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.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Zelenskiy 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. Zelenskiy said his forces were
also on the offensive in the east.
Russia captured large tracts of southern Ukraine near the Black Sea
coast in the early weeks of the six-month-old war, including in the
Kherson region, which lies north of the Russian-annexed Crimean
Peninsula.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
Ukraine sees recapturing the region as crucial to prevent Russian
attempts to seize more territory further west that could eventually
cut off its access to the Black Sea.
Britain, an ally of Ukraine, said Ukrainian formations in the south
had pushed Russian front-line forces back some distance in places,
exploiting relatively thin Russian defences.. Ukraine said it had
"successes" in three areas of the region but declined to give
details.
Russia's defence ministry has denied reports of Ukrainian progress
and said its troops had routed Ukrainian forces.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Matthias
Williams; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, William Maclean)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |