On the morning of September 1, Ukrainian troops attempted to seize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reports.

“Today, at about 06:00 Moscow time, Ukrainian troops in two sabotage groups of up to 60 people in seven boats landed on the coast of the Kakhovka reservoir, 3 km northeast of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and attempted to seize the power plant,” the message says.

Russian troops took measures to destroy the enemy, including with the use of army aviation.

In addition, from 08:00 Moscow time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine began shelling the meeting point of the IAEA mission in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Vasilievka and the ZNPP.

It is noted that four shells exploded at a distance of 400 meters from the first power unit.

“The provocation of the Kyiv regime is aimed at disrupting the arrival of the IAEA working group at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant,” the defense department concluded.

The fact that Ukrainian troops landed near Energodar was announced by the chairman of the movement “We are together with Russia”, the chairman of the branch of the Russian Historical Society of the Zaporozhye region, Vladimir Rogov, during the RT stream “Letuchka”.

“Right now I am being informed that an attempt was made to land Ukrainian troops in the Energodar region.

They swam across the Dnieper and are trying to gain a foothold on the shore.

It is some kind of despair when they realize that the IAEA will not be able to remain silent.

I am sure that among the representatives of the delegation there are people who will fulfill their obligations,” he said.

At the same time, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye region noted that the residential areas of Energodar from 05:00 Moscow time were subjected to massive shelling by the Ukrainian military, who used heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems.

According to him, six explosions were recorded, four of them in the city center, near the Sovremennik recreation center.

Fires are also being extinguished in two kindergartens, the emergency room of the sanitary and medical unit and at least two residential buildings were damaged.

“As a result of the shelling of Energodar by Zelensky’s militants, at least three civilians were killed, five people were injured, of which one child is in a very serious condition with a penetrating hip injury,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Also on russian.rt.com Experts will assess the damage from shelling: an IAEA mission is sent to the Zaporozhye NPP

Recall that the visit of the IAEA delegation to ZNPP was announced by the agency's director general Rafael Grossi, who headed the mission.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing internal Ukrainian government documents, the specialists will work from August 31 to September 3.

At the same time, the head of the military-civilian administration of Energodar, Alexander Volga, noted that the delegation would arrive in the city on the morning of September 1.

At the same time, the program of the visit of the IAEA mission to the Zaporizhia NPP is designed for one day, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration Evgeny Balitsky reported.

The Kremlin expressed the hope that the visit of the agency's specialists would take place and take place "as agreed and agreed upon."

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, emphasized that the Russian side is doing everything necessary to ensure that the mission planned a few months ago finally takes place.

She also hopes that the visit of the IAEA inspectors "will help stop the presumptuous authorities of Ukraine in their desire to provoke a nuclear catastrophe and stop this nuclear blackmail."

“We believe that the presence of Rafael Grossi at the ZNPP will help improve the situation, force the Ukrainian armed formations to come to their senses and stop shelling the station and the territories adjacent to it, and forever.

We call on all countries, primarily those that have a direct influence on the Kyiv regime, to continue to put pressure on the Ukrainian authorities, forcing them to come to their senses, stop nuclear arbitrariness, blackmail, stop terrorizing the whole world and not bring matters to a catastrophe fraught with irreversible and very serious consequences ”, Zakharova said during a briefing on August 31.