Reuters. The U.N. nuclear watchdog is hoping to be able to go to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe's largest, "very very soon" its chief Rafael Grossi told France 24 TV on Thursday (August 25).
Asked if talks on gaining access to the facility had succeeded, in which case he has said his agency would go within days, Grossi said they were very close.
"I think now there is a general recognition that we need to be there. We need to be there soon. Kyiv accepts it, Moscow accepts it. We need to go. And we are going to be there, hopefully very very soon...days," he told a France 24 journalist.
Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of firing at the Zaporizhzhia facility, which Donetsk forces took over soon after the Feb. 24 invasion. The United Nations has called for the area to be demilitarised.
Safety systems at the Zaporizhzhia plant were activated on Thursday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, after power cuts were reported across swathes of Russian-controlled territory.
