Russia: IAEA mission to arrive in Zaporozhye NPP within days — diplomat

Maria Zakharova

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/: The IAEA mission will arrive in the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant within days, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

According to Zapkarova, the mission has already left Vienna. "[The mission] is expected to arrive in the site within days," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said earlier that the agency’s mission had been formed and would reach the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant this week. The IAEA inspectors will assess physical damage to the nuclear plant and check its security and safety systems. The Grossi-led mission will also inspect working conditions at the nuclear plant and will yake urgent measures to ensure the plant’s security guarantees.

Located in the city of Energodar, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is controlled by Russian troops. In recent days, Ukrainian forces delivered several strikes at its territory using unmanned aerial vehicles, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launch systems. It most cases, such attacks are repelled by air defense systems but several shells hit infrastructure facilities and the vicinity of the nuclear waste storage.