Ukraine: the IAEA team of experts is on its way to the Zaporizhia power plant
The Director General of the IAEA leaves kyiv to go to the Zaporijjia power plant, August 31, 2022. REUTERS - GLEB GARANICH
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An inspection team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was on its way this Wednesday, August 31, to the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the target of bombardments for several weeks, indicated Rafael Grossi, director general of this UN body.
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“
We are finally moving after several months (…) of effort.
The IAEA is going inside the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the UN agency, told reporters in Kiev, just before leaving on Wednesday morning.
The plant, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by the Russian army since the beginning of March, after the invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24.
kyiv has accused Moscow of deploying hundreds of troops there and stockpiling ammunition there.
“
I am fully aware of the importance of this moment but we are ready.
The IAEA is ready.
We will report back after our mission.
We are going to spend a few days there
,” he added.
“
Immediate demilitarization
”
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky received the IAEA experts on Tuesday
, saying on this occasion that the international community should obtain from Russia "
an immediate demilitarization
" of the plant.
This, he added, implies "
the departure of all Russian soldiers with all their explosives, all their weapons
" from this site in southern Ukraine and on which Kiev and Moscow accuse each other of having carried out strikes .
He assured him that Ukraine would try to find a way through secure corridors so that the IAEA mission could reach the Zaporizhia plant.
The Zaporizhia power plant has six reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each.
Last week, it was briefly disconnected from the power grid for the first time in its history, after power lines were damaged.
Fighting continues near the power plant
"
Unfortunately Russia does not stop its provocations, precisely in the directions by which the mission must arrive at the plant
", lamented Volodymyr Zelensky, adding that the situation was "
extremely threatening
".
"
The risk of a nuclear catastrophe due to Russia's actions does not diminish even for an hour
," he said.
Meanwhile, fighting continues and Russian forces continue to shell the town of Nikopol, opposite the power plant, on the other bank of the Dnieper, reports
our correspondent in Kiev,
Stéphane Siohan
.
In the region of Zaporijjia, a city of 800,000 inhabitants before the war, the departure of inhabitants multiplied while iodine tablets were distributed to the population.
On Ukraine's southern front, the fighting is intensifying and the fear of a nuclear incident is stronger than ever.
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Ukraine
IAEA
Nuclear
Russia