IAEA grossi ukraine missile zaporozhye nuclear plant ukraine
© RIA Novosti/Konstantin MikhalchevskyIAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (center right, foreground) and delegates from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspect the crash site of a cruise missile at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
UN's nuclear watchdog has no way of saying if damage was accidental or deliberate, Rafael Grossi says

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi has confirmed that damage had been done to the Russian-held Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine, but refrained from naming the guilty party.

"It's obvious that... the physical integrity of the plant has been violated several times. By chance or by deliberation, we don't have the elements to assess that, but this is the reality that we have to recognize," Grossi told reporters after returning to Ukrainian-controlled territory on Friday.

"I worried, I worry and I will continue to worry about the plant until we have a situation that's more stable, that's more predictable," he added.


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Grossi, who headed the team of IAEA experts that arrived at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Thursday, said that he "saw a lot" during the visit, personally inspecting some of the "key areas" at the facility, including emergency systems, diesel generators and control rooms.

The atomic agency was "not going anywhere" from the plant now, he assured reporters, reiterating that the UN nuclear watchdog plans to establish a permanent presence at the facility.

The official also said that some experts from his team will remain at the station until Sunday or Monday to "dig deeper" and collect more data for the report.

Russia said that Ukraine has shelled the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and sent commandos to storm it on Thursday in a failed attempt to use the UN inspectors as "human shields."


Comment: RT expanded:
Kiev forces wanted to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in a daring military raid and use the personnel of the UN nuclear watchdog as "human shields" to maintain control over the facility, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday.

The botched raid came shortly before a team of experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - including the organization's head, Rafael Grossi - arrived at the plant for an inspection. According to the Russian military, multiple Ukrainian "saboteur groups" crossed the Kakhovka Reservoir in speedboats and barges near the plant early in the morning, but were intercepted and destroyed by Russian troops and National Guard forces.

"Obviously, if the operation of the Kiev regime to seize the station was a success, the head of the IAEA, [Rafael] Grossi, and the experts of the mission would become a 'human shield' for Ukrainian saboteurs to prevent any attempts to destroy them by the Russian armed forces," the Russian MoD said in a statement.

The ultimate goal of the operation was seizing control of the plant, while the presence of the IAEA team would have allowed the "saboteurs" to not only take cover from any potential Russian actions, but also to cement the new "status quo," the military said. The success of the operation would have likely been reinforced by a "new wave of loud statements from Washington and European capitals, calling upon Russia to establish a 'demilitarized zone' around the nuclear plant, with IAEA observers guarded by Ukrainian troops," it asserted.

Grossi acknowledged that the security situation at the plant was "difficult" during his visit. "There were moments where fire was obvious - heavy machine gun, artillery, mortars," he said, adding that on two or three occasions things got "very concerning" for the UN team.

Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been under Russian control since March, but has continued to be operated by the Ukrainian staff. The IAEA chief has praised the "incredible degree of professionalism" of those employees, saying that he saw them "calm and moving."

Moscow accused Kiev forces of repeatedly targeting the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, in August. It warned that those attacks could trigger a disaster that would eclipse the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, with radioactive material potentially reaching Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Belarus, and even Germany.


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Ukraine has claimed that Russian forces have turned the power plant into a military base and that they've been shelling the facility themselves to pin the blame on Kiev.

Russia has repeatedly denied those accusations and urged that international inspectors visit the site so that they could assess the situation for themselves.