A team made up of 14 UN experts arrived this Thursday around 2:15 p.m. at the complex of the Ukrainian atomic power plant Energoatom, in Zaporizhia, controlled by Russian troops, to assess the risk of a radioactive catastrophe.
The arrival of the inspectors has been delayed for several hours by "constant shelling" near the site since early morning, according to the mayor of Energodar, Dimitro Orlov.
"The IAEA mission has reached the Zaporiya plant," Fredrik Dahl, who is traveling with the team that must establish the situation at the plant, the largest in Europe, and which has been subjected to attacks that have jeopardized its operation.
The plant was the object of recent bombardments that damaged some of its facilities, and the IAEA has been warning for months of the risk of a nuclear disaster and requesting permission to carry out this mission.
Just today one of the plant's reactors had to be stopped after new bombardments and attacks took place this morning in the nearby area and of which kyiv and Moscow accuse each other and which hindered the arrival of the IAEA mission to the nuclear power station.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of trying to sabotage the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in south-central Ukraine, controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian personnel.
The situation at the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, has been deteriorating for weeks, with Moscow and kyiv blaming each other for shelling nearby, fueling fears of a Chernobyl-like radioactive catastrophe.
A Reuters reporter saw the IAEA team arrive in a large convoy with a heavy presence of Russian soldiers nearby. A Ukrainian source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters the mission "may turn out to be shorter than expected."
Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom said Russian bombardment had forced the shutdown of one of only two working reactors at the site, while Moscow said it had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to seize the plant.
A Reuters reporter in the nearby Russian-controlled city of Energodar said a residential building was hit by shelling, forcing people to take refuge in a basement. It was not possible to determine who had fired the shot.
Russian Zaporizhia district governor Yevgeni Balitski said at least three people had been killed and five wounded in what he said was a Ukrainian shelling of Energodar that had also destroyed three kindergartens and the House of Culture. In the morning, the power to the city was cut off, he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was doing everything possible to ensure the plant could function safely and that IAEA inspectors could complete their work.
The IAEA chief told reporters early Thursday in the city of Zaporizhia, some 55 km from the plant, that he was aware of "increased military activity in the area" but would go ahead with the plan to tour the facility and meet with staff.
The IAEA inspectors, wearing bulletproof vests and traveling in white armored vehicles with UN markings on the sides, had been held up at the first checkpoint on the outskirts of the city following reports that a shelling was taking place.
Russia accused Ukrainian forces of trying to seize the plant and also of bombing both the meeting point of the IAEA delegation and the nuclear power plant itself.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that up to 60 Ukrainian soldiers had crossed the Dnieper River, which divides the territory held by both parties, by boat at 0600 local time (0300 GMT), in what it described as " provocation" aimed at disrupting the planned IAEA visit.
The ministry said "measures" had been taken to destroy opposing troops, including the use of military aircraft.
A Russian-installed local official, Vladimir Rogov, later said that "about 40" of the 60 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. Russian troops also captured three Ukrainian servicemen during the assault on the plant, he added.
The Ukrainian authorities have welcomed the IAEA visit, expressing hope that it will lead to the demilitarization of the plant. They say Russia has been using the plant as a shield to attack cities, knowing it will be difficult for kyiv forces to return fire.
They have also accused the Russian military of bombing the plant, something Russian authorities deny.
Reuters journalists who followed the IAEA convoy before they were ordered to turn around due to dangerous conditions said that while they were in the city of Zaporizhia overnight, they had seen flashes of explosions in the sky. They could not verify who was responsible.
Russian-installed authorities have suggested the UN nuclear watchdog team would only have one day to inspect the plant, while the mission is preparing for longer.
"If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it is going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to last a few days," Grossi said.
