Kiev, Jun. 16, (dpa/GNA) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday described the situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in Ukraine as serious but stable following the collapse of the Kakhovka dam
The latest assessment at the long-running flashpoint in Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine came as Kiev said it had retaken 100 square kilometres of land in its counteroffensive, which is sti
“On the one hand, the situation is serious, there are consequences and they are real. On the other hand, a number of measures have been taken to stabilize the situation,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the Russian news agency Interfax during his visit to the nuclear facility.
The nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, occupied by Russian troops since last year, draws its cooling water from the Kakhovka reservoir, which has dried up due to the devastating dam breach at the beginning of the month that Kiev and Moscow each blame the other for causing.
Grossi and the IAEA team are particularly worried about whether the there is sufficient water to keep the plant’s decommissioned reactors from overheating to the point of a meltdown.
At the moment there is still enough water in the cooling ponds, Grossi said.
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog had wanted to travel to the reactor complex on Wednesday, but had to postpone the visit for one day for security reasons.
With him, a new group of international observers has also arrived at the facility, replacing a previous mission.
The head of the Russian nuclear authority, Alexey Likhachev, said there were increasing risks to the plant.
“We understand that the plant can be subject to a targeted attack at any time,” he said on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum.
He accused the Ukrainian military of not explicitly supporting IAEA principles for the safety of the plant. In view of the ongoing Ukrainian offensive in the region, the danger for the plant is growing, Likhachev said.
Kiev on the other hand has repeatedly emphasized that there can be no reliable security at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant while it is in Russian hands.
Last year, the six-reactor plant – which is the largest in Europe – was repeatedly shelled and suffered power supply issues. All reactors have been taken offline to minimize the threat of disaster but the IAEA says the risk still remains too high.
Meanwhile, the ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive has resulted in the liberation of seven villages previously under Russian occupation, said Oleksii Hromov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s general staff.
“Control has been restored to 100 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory,” Hromov told a press conference in Kiev.
Ukrainian units were continuing to attack to the north and south of Bakhmut, the city in the Donetsk region seized by Russian forces earlier this year, he said.
Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Russian forces were showing “strong resistance,” with Ukrainian troops hampered by heavy artillery fire and kamikaze drones.
“The enemy is not simply surrendering its positions,” she said.
Earlier, the air defence authority in Kiev reported attacks by cruise missiles and drones on Ukrainian territory, while the authorities on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula reported attacks by Ukrainian drones.
According to Ukraine, industrial targets in the Dnipropetrovsk region were hit by three cruise missiles. A 38-year-old man in Kryvyi Rih in the region was injured. An attack on the city on Tuesday claimed the lives of 12 people.
Officials said Ukrainian air defences had downed more than 20 drones, 13 of them over Odessa on the Black Sea.
The Russian authorities in Crimea reported that most of the nine drones sent over by Ukrainian forces had been shot down.
One drone exploded in a village, causing windows to break. There were no injuries, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the Russian administration in the territory, which was seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Kiev has declared its intention to retake the peninsula and has subjected targets there to regular attack.
GNA