Photo taken on Aug. 22, 2022 shows the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)
A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Zelensky is set to meet IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi in the near term.
BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission heading to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) has arrived in Ukraine, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Tuesday, citing its source in Ukraine's Energy Ministry.
The mission is currently in Kiev, the report said, without disclosing the mission's further plans over security concerns.
Separately, Serhiy Nikiforov, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Zelensky is set to meet IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi in the near term.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Ukraine continued to stage provocations at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, creating the risk of a man-made disaster at the facility.
Ukraine fired four attack drones at the territory of the plant over the past day, all were intercepted by Russian forces, it said.
One drone landed on the roof of the plant's Special Building No.1, which stores nuclear fuel and solid radioactive waste, it said, adding that further damage and casualties were avoided.
Ukrainian forces also fired two shells at the territory of the nuclear plant from firing positions near the Marganets area in the Dnepropetrovsk region, which exploded near Special Building No.1, while the ministry noted the radiation situation at the plant remained normal.
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Russia hopes that the IAEA mission would still be able to visit the Zaporizhzhia NPP as previously agreed, and the Russian side "had been waiting for a long time" for the mission, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
Moscow believes the agency should visit the nuclear facility, despite Ukraine's renewed shelling of the power plant, he said.
Peskov called Kiev's actions "irresponsible," saying that they posed an immediate threat not only to the plant and nearby territories, but also to even wider areas. ■
