Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of boycotting the experts’ visit with bombing
The group of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), headed by the director of the organization, Rafael Grossi, arrived this afternoon at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, located in the city of Energodar and whose safety has been called into question. being under the control of Russian troops and being subjected to successive bombardments.
In fact, the mutual accusations of attacks by the Russian and Ukrainian forces, of trying to hinder the advance towards the plant of the fourteen members that make up the IAEA delegation, came close to frustrating the mission. However, Grossi declared before passing the Ukrainian Army checkpoint towards the Russian-occupied zone that “despite the military activity around the plant, our special mission will not stop. We have already come too far to turn back now.
The experts come from countries such as China, France, Lithuania and Poland. The former chief inspector of the IAEA, the Finn Olli Heinonen, told the BBC on Wednesday that the commission will try to assess whether the equipment is working properly, if there are any problems, check how the plant employees feel and whether their physical and psychological state. it’s satisfying.
Since the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is in the hands of the Russian Army, it is assumed that Ukrainian personnel will not express their point of view freely for fear of reprisals themselves or their families. So, according to Heinonen, “we will have to read between the lines and try to find out what the real situation is. The last thing it’s about is provoking confrontation.”
Grossi, for his part, maintains that, after an initial analysis of the situation, “the possibility of establishing a permanent IAEA presence” at the Zaporizhia plant will be assessed, which will allow, in his words, “to offer regular reliable, impartial updates and neutrals» on the operation of the complex.
According to the Ukrainian Minister of Energy, German Galushenko, kyiv gave the IAEA a list of indicators that must be checked. “We discussed it together and handed over to the mission a list of technical and safety indicators that are important for international experts to check during their visit to the plant,” Galushenko said on Wednesday.
reactor disconnected
It so happens that, hours before the IAEA mission arrived at the nuclear power plant, the Ukrainian operator Energoatom reported the automatic shutdown of one of the plant’s six reactors due to Russian bombing. “Today at 04:57, due to another mortar shelling by the Russian occupation forces on the Zaporizhia NPP compound, emergency protection was activated and operational power unit 5 was switched off,” it said. points out in the Energoatom statement.
The head of the Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Staruj, stated in his Telegram account that Russian troops have been attacking the route used by the IAEA delegation and the city of Energodar itself in recent hours to frustrate their work and force them to turn around. “We demand that Russia stop the provocations and grant the IAEA unhindered access to Ukraine’s nuclear facilities,” Staruj demanded. Meanwhile, from Moscow, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, María Zajárova, assured that there is no intention on the part of Russia to prevent the access of experts to the atomic plant. Russia has accused Ukrainian “sabotage” of the provocations.
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