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IAEA mission heads to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant near war frontline
![IAEA mission heads to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant near war frontline]()
IAEA director general does not specify day of arrival as Russia and Ukraine trade accusations of shelling IAEA mission heads to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant near war frontline
A team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog headed on Monday to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the agency's chief said, as Russia and Ukraine traded accusations of shelling in its vicinity, fuelling fears of a radiation disaster.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday injected a ray of hope in the standoff over the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant at the heart of fighting in Ukraine by announcing that its mission of top experts “is now on its way” to the facility even as renewed shelling in the area highlighted fears of a catastrophe.
And even if both Ukraine and Russia welcomed the mission, both sides continued to accuse each other of stoking the conflict by shelling the wider region around the plant. Neither side’s claims can be independently verified.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi has for months sought access to the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s biggest, which has been occupied by Russian forces and run by Ukrainian workers since the early days of the 6-month-old war.
His announcement came as Ukraine accused Russia of new rocket and artillery strikes at or near the plant, intensifying fears that the fighting could cause a massive radiation leak. The facility, which has six reactors, was already temporarily knocked offline under the barrage of shelling last week.
