(Reuters) – A new monitoring mission from the U.N. nuclear watchdog arrived on Saturday at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, Russia’s Rosatom company said, after weeks of delay caused by military activity around the site.
Russian news agencies quoted Rosatom, the state nuclear power company, as saying the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived at the station by travelling for the first time strictly through Russian-held territory.
“The rotation of IAEA observers has taken place,” the agencies quoted a Rosatom statement as saying. “The 27th team of IAEA observers is made up of three inspectors.”
The IAEA rotation had been postponed for nearly a month, with each side blaming the other for violating rules to ensure the team’s safe passage to the plant.
Russian troops seized the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, in the first weeks of their February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It produces no electricity at the moment.
Russia and Ukraine have since routinely accused each other of firing on or near the station and risking a nuclear accident. The IAEA has deployed staff to the plant since September 2022 and is also present at Ukraine’s other nuclear plants.
Rafael Grossi, the IAEA’s executive director, has repeatedly urged both sides to refrain from any actions posing a risk to the plant.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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