IAEA Chief Due in Ukraine after Putin Announces Seizing ZNPP

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to arrive in Ukraine Thursday to discuss creating a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to an IAEA press release.

The release added that Grossi will engage in consultations with the relevant authorities aimed at agreeing on and implementing a nuclear safety and security protection zone (NSSPZ) around the ZNPP as soon as possible.

Grossi tweeted Wednesday alongside photos from his journey to Kyiv that the need for a nuclear safety and security protection zone around ‪Zaporizhzhya NPP is now more urgent than ever. The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, who will also visit Russia, announced the trip after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the facility a federal asset.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said that since the nuclear plant is now on the territory of the Russian Federation it should be, accordingly, operated under the supervision of Russian relevant agencies.

Although Putin’s presidential decree signed in Moscow has designated the ZNPP in Ukraine a Russian federal property, Ukrainian operators of the plant, Energoatom, called the move worthless with its top official Petro Kotin announcing in a video message that he would take charge of all future decisions regarding the ZNPP operation from a central office.

Meanwhile, soon after Putin signed into law the documents on the annexation of Zaporizhzhia and three other regions, deadly missile attacks on the major Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least one person and left seven hospitalized, including a three-year-old girl.

Pointing out that Russians keep deliberately striking civilians to sow fear, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the pre-dawn bombardment comprised of seven missiles and that there’s an ongoing rescue operation.