'The day has come': IAEA inspectors arrive in Kyiv ahead of visit to Zaporizhzhia NPP

Amid the growing threat of a nuclear catastrophe, a team from the United Nation's nuclear watchdog arrived in Kyiv to review the situation in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. According to CNN, IAEA members were seen checking into their hotel in Kyiv on Tuesday morning. The IAEA delegation is headed by IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi, confirmed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko on Monday.

This development comes amid the renewed shelling of the facility and the rising risk of a nuclear accident. Taking to Twitter, Grossi wrote that the day has come when IAEA's Support and Assistance Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is now on its way. "We must ensure the safety and security of # Ukraine's and Europe's most important nuclear facilities," he tweeted.

IAEA nuclear inspectors arrive in Kyiv ahead of visit to Zaporizhzhia

On this visit, the IAEA delegation would assess physical damage to the plant, find out how the safety systems are working, evaluate the working condition of its stock, and perform any urgent safeguard activities, said the IAEA in another tweet. It is expected that the inspectors will arrive in Zaporizhzhia as early as Wednesday when the team will meet the local officials in nearby Enerhodar. It is expected that the team will spend several days inspecting the power plant. For months, the UN's atomic energy agency has warned about the risk of a nuclear catastrophe and sought to send in a delegation to review the situation at the plant.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow believes that the IAEA's mission is necessary, as per TASS. The Kremlin spokesperson stated that Russia would ensure the safety of the IAEA inspectors on the captured territory. However, the Russian spokesperson reiterated that Russian troops would not step back from the captured zone. He said it is up to the international community to pressurise Kyiv to reduce tension around the site. On the other hand, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday stated this mission "will be the hardest in the history of IAEA" given the active fighting on the ground.

Image: AP