A mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to arrive at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine this week. The mission is already on its way, the head of the Agency, Rafael Grossi, who heads the mission, announced.
Grossi stressed that it was necessary to protect the safety of the “largest nuclear facility in Europe”, which is occupied by Russian troops.
The day has come, @IAEAorg‘s Support and Assistance Mission to #Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is now on its way. We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility. Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week. pic.twitter.com/tyVY7l4SrM
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) August 29, 2022
The mission includes experts from, among others, Poland, Lithuania and countries that Ukraine considers friendly towards it, and Serbia and China, which have friendlier relations with Russia. The delegation – according to these reports – also included representatives from Albania, France, Italy, Jordan, Mexico and North Macedonia.
The ‘New York Times’ reported on Saturday that an IAEA mission comprising the agency’s head Rafael Grossi and 13 experts from “mostly neutral countries” is to visit and observe the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant for a week. ISW stresses that the experts do not include representatives of countries such as the US or the UK, which Russia considers ‘unfairly biased’.
“Russia has further begun to implement strategies similar to those used by Iran in attempt to manipulate and possibly delay an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the plant in the near future,” assesses the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian special forces are torturing workers at the plant to force them to keep quiet about safety violations when IAEA inspectors arrive on site, the think tank report noted.
“Ukrainian official sources have reported that Russian special forces are torturing Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant employees to prevent them from disclosing safety violations to IAEA inspectors, that Russian authorities are attempting to limit the presence of Ukrainian employees at the plant, and that occupation authorities have begun collecting signatures from Enerhodar residents demanding an end to Ukrainian shelling to present to inspectors,” ISW added.