IAEA mission stops halfway, waiting until it is safe to go to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

IRYNA BALACHUK –  THURSDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER, 11:26

The IAEA mission, which is en route from Zaporizhzhia city to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), is currently at a checkpoint in Novooleksandrivka, approximately 20 km from the front line.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine news agency, referring to a source close to the mission

Quote from the Interfax-Ukraine source: "You can hear the strikes here. But they are far away."

Details: The movement of the convoy has now been stopped; mission representatives are waiting until "it is safe".

Background:

• On the morning of 1 September, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission set off from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and headed for the nuclear power plant in the Russian-controlled town of Enerhodar, despite reports of intense shelling in the area.
• Energoatom reported that operating unit 5 at ZNPP has been automatically shut down due to shelling by the Russians.
• The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the actions of the Russian army are endangering the work of the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is heading for the occupied ZNPP.
• Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko says that Russian occupiers may prevent the IAEA mission from visiting key facilities that need to be inspected on the territory of the occupied ZNPP.

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