Zelenskyy meets IAEA delegation in Kyiv; urges de-militarisation of Zaporizhzhia NPP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday met with UN nuclear inspectors in Kyiv ahead of their visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that has been heavily shelled over the last few days as the fierce battle raged in southern Ukraine. According to a statement issued by  Zelenskyy's  office, the Ukrainian leader met with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi who arrived with his 14-member team to inspect Europe's largest atomic facility.

"This is probably one of the top-priority questions regarding the safety of Ukraine and the world today," Zelenskyy said in the statement.  He then appealed for an "immediate de-militarisation of the plant" and its transfer to "full Ukrainian control."

'We must ensure the safety and security of nuclear facility': Grossi

The visit by the team of inspectors from the IAEA comes as fighting intensified in the southern region of Kherson with Ukrainian troops launching a major counteroffensive "in various directions" to push back the occupying Russian forces. IAEA members, who arrived in Kyiv, had checked into a hotel, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko confirmed. Grossi tweeted that the day has come when IAEA's Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is on its way. "We must ensure the safety and security of Ukraine's and Europe's most important nuclear facilities," he wrote. 

During the visit, the IAEA delegation will assess physical damage to the Zaporhizhzhia nuclear plant, and ensure whether the safety systems were operational. The team would also evaluate the working condition of its stock, and perform any urgent safeguard activities. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, said that Moscow will cooperate with the team of IAEA inspectors, adding that the mission is necessary. He, however, clarified that the Kremlin does not agree with Ukraine and its ally US' demand that Russian troops must pull out of the occupied nuclear plant. Elsewhere, Russian forces launched fresh strikes on the centre of the northeastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least five people and injuring seven others. Ukraine also accused the Russian military of deliberately bombing corridors for a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).