(Bloomberg) — International monitors are en route to a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s southeast that has become an increasingly worrying flash point in the war.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency delegation departed Kyiv just before sunrise in a convoy of white trucks marked with the organization’s logo, driving southeast toward Energodar, the Russian-occupied city closest to the plant.
The mission arrived at the city of Zaporizhzhia around 3 p.m. Kyiv time, according to Energoatom, the Ukrainian state company that manages its nuclear power plants. That is still in Ukrainian-held territory and the most difficult part of the road – more than 68 miles (109 kms) – lies ahead as the team must cross the conflict front line and enter Russia-occupied areas.
It’s unclear exactly when they will enter the site and how long they can stay there, although IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has rejected suggestions it could be as short as one day.
Attacks in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia plant have stoked widespread concern over a potential atomic disaster. Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the shelling which has become a near-daily occurrence.
Russian forces captured the plant at the beginning of the six-month war, although Ukrainian technicians are inside the facility and keeping Europe’s largest nuclear-power station operating.
“We are now finally moving after six months of strenuous efforts,” Grossi said in Kyiv before the convoy set off. He said he received “explicit guarantees” from Ukraine and Russia that his team of about a dozen inspectors can safely enter the conflict zone.
“We expect the agency representatives, who will in the near future be at the plant, will be able to see the situation in full detail,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday. “From the Russian side, everything necessary and even more is being done.”
But Evgeny Balitsky, the head of the Russian-installed administration in Energodar, said the inspectors wouldn’t be given special passes and would have to wait in line with others seeking to cross from Ukrainian-controlled territory, Tass reported. Another occupation official said the mission is expected to arrive Thursday morning and spend a day or two at the plant, with 6-8 experts staying on afterward, Tass reported.
Ukraine said it’d do its best to ensure the mission makes the journey, even as Zaporizhzhia Governor Oleksandr Starukh warned shelling had picked up along the front line overnight.
It’s the first time in the IAEA’s 65-year history that monitors will cross an active battlefront in order to carry out an inspection. Investigators will speak with the Ukrainian technicians and try to stabilize the situation during the “few days” the team is on site, according to Grossi.
(Updates with the mission arrival to city of Zaporizhzhia in third paragraph)
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