The “physical integrity” of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in south-eastern Ukraine has been “violated”, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said, as Ukraine’s authorities accused Russia of misleading the inspection mission.
Rafael Grossi led a team of inspectors to the Russian-controlled plant that has been frequently shelled in recent weeks, raising fears of a nuclear incident.
“It is obvious that the plant and physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times,” Grossi told reporters after he returned with part of his team to the Ukrainian-controlled area on Thursday. Grossi said although he would continue to worry about the plant, the situation was “more predictable” now.
Grossi told reporters he was able to tour the “whole” site, including the emergency and control systems. He also said he managed to talk to local residents and the plant’s Ukrainian staff, who stayed at the plant when the war began. He said the workers are in a difficult situation but are “calm and moving [onwards]”.
Ukraine’s state nuclear agency, Energoatom, said on Telegram the IAEA was not shown certain areas of the site. Energoatom said the IAEA was presented with a staged “show” and the Russian authorities tried to prevent the mission from understanding the “facts of the ground”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russia of intimidating people in the nearby town of Enerhodar to lie to the IAEA representatives about events at the plant and “sign things”.
Ukraine and Russia have traded blame over attacks on and near the plant, with Ukraine claiming they are false-flag operations carried out by Russia.
Zelenskiy also voiced concerns over Ukrainian and international journalists not being allowed to travel with the delegation, as previously agreed. He said the occupying forces did not allow the journalists to cross the frontlines.
“Unfortunately, IAEA representatives did not protect representatives of independent media,” said Zelenskiy, who said only Russian propagandists were present. Zelenskiy said the key thing for Ukraine and the international community was the demilitarisation of the plant. He said it was “bad that we have not yet heard the appropriate calls [for demilitarisation] from the IAEA”.
Russian state media have published videos of Russian officials from Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear agency, giving the mission a tour of the plant.
Grossi said he and the team spent three, four or five hours at the plant. “I have seen a lot.” He said part of his 14-strong mission to the plant would stay at the facility “until Sunday or Monday, continuing with the assessment. We are not going anywhere. The IAEA is now there, it is at the plant and it is not moving – it’s going to stay there.”
The Ukrainians living on a nuclear frontline: ‘This is inhumanity’ – video Grossi said the group of IAEA experts would provide an impartial, neutral and technically sound assessment of the situation.
“We have a lot of work there, to do analysis of some technical aspects,” Grossi said. The IAEA would assess physical damage to the plant, ensure its safety and security systems were functional, and evaluate the conditions of the facility’s staff, he said.
A report would be produced on their findings, Grossi added.
The UN nuclear chief did not specify how many people would remain at the facility, adding: “We could draw up a number of questions and initial observations, initial assessments, and they are going to dig deeper into that so that we could have a report.”
The Ukrainian energy minister, German Galushchenko, said on Thursday it was being discussed that certain IAEA specialists – “up to two individuals” – would be permanently stationed at the plant. “But it is important for us that the station must be under national control, meaning that the station must be returned to the control of Ukraine,” he told Ukraine’s 1+1 television channel.
‘We are not going anywhere’: Rafael Grossi (in white hat) and his team inspecting the Zaporizhzhia plant. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/EPAGrossi said the security situation was “pretty difficult” during his visit. “There were moments where fire was obvious, heavy machine gun, artillery, mortars two or three times – we were very concerned.” But he said the mission received “splendid support from the UN security team”.
“I think we showed that the international community is there, could be there and we will be continuing this,” Grossi said.
Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear facility, has faced repeated shelling in recent weeks, with Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other for the attacks, raising concerns of a possible disaster. On Thursday, a dawn shelling attack on the area forced one of the plant’s six reactors to shut down.
On Friday afternoon the electricity supply to a reactor was reconnected after it was cut for the second time in 10 days because of shelling, according to Energoatom. The plant needs electricity for its cooling and security systems. In the event all supply lines are cut, the plant’s workers would have 90 minutes to avoid dangerous overheating.
In a video address late on Thursday, Zelenskiy reiterated his frequent calls that all troops be removed from the plant. “The main thing that must happen is the demilitarisation of the station’s territory,” he said. “Demilitarisation and full control of Ukrainian nuclear workers.”
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report