RTThu, 01 Sep 2022 11:18 UTC
© RIA Novosti/SputnikRussian serviceman on guard at Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Station
Three Ukrainian soldiers, who participated in a botched attempt to capture the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday morning,
have been taken alive, Vladimir Rogov, a council member in the Moscow-allied administration of Ukraine's Zaporozhye Region, has claimed.
Of the three, two have been injured and are in serious condition, the official said in an interview with Russian television. Doctors are fighting to save them, he added.
An estimated 12 Ukrainian troops are still fighting against Russian forces, he claimed.
The Russian Defense Ministry previously claimed that early in the morning, Kiev launched an operation apparently aimed at taking the nuclear site ahead of an inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Some of the Ukrainian troops failed to reach the southern bank of the Dnepr when their vessels were hit and sank, the ministry stated.
Up to 60 commandos used speedboats to make a landing, before Russian forces engaged them, the report said.
The power plant and the surrounding city of Energodar have been under Russian control since March. Throughout August, it came under regular fire, which Kiev and Moscow blamed on each other. Ukrainian officials also accused Russia of stationing heavy weapons at the nuclear facility.
The IAEA's fact-finding mission is expected to arrive in Energodar later in the day, though there were reports that their progress was interrupted by military activity. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attempting to derail the inspection.
Comment: UN team arrives at Zaporozhye:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors have reached the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine amid reports of renewed shelling and combat.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti published a video of the convoy with UN experts arriving at Europe's largest nuclear facility on Thursday.
The visit comes hours after the Russian Defense Ministry accused Kiev of dispatching commandos in an attempt to seize the plant. According to Russian officials, the attack has been repelled.
International experts led by IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi are planning to assess the situation on the ground and examine the damage done to the plant.
Red Cross Chief offers a warning:
Robert Mardini, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, has warned that fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant must be halted immediately before a "massive incident" causes a humanitarian catastrophe. Mardini told a news conference on September 1 during a visit to Ukraine:
"In the event of a nuclear leak, it will be difficult if not impossible to provide humanitarian assistance...and this is why fighting should stop. It is therefore time to stop playing with fire and instead take concrete measures to protect this facility, and others like it, from military any operations.... The slightest miscalculation could trigger devastation that we will regret for decades. The scenario could be a massive incident, and...there is very little anyone can do to mitigate the dire consequences of this."
Large parts of the world are turning away from the West, which includes their infiltrated humanitarian NGOs.