(Reuters) -A new monitoring mission from the U.N. nuclear watchdog arrived on Saturday at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine for the first time through Russian territory, a Russia-installed head of the plant said.
The IAEA rotation came after weeks of delay caused by military activity around the site with each side blaming the other for violating rules to ensure the team’s safe passage to the plant.
“It is fundamentally important that the route passed through the territory of the Russian Federation for the first time,” Yuri Chernichuk, the Russia-installed head of the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeastern Ukraine, said in a video on Telegram.
The arrival of three inspectors, he added, was ensured by Russia’s defence ministry and national guard and followed “intense” consultations between the heads of Russia’s state nuclear power company Rosatom and IAEA.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. The IAEA could not be reached outside business hours to comment on the Russian statement. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
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; Writing by Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Daniel Wallis)
