Ukraine, Russia Trade Blame Over Nuclear Plant as UN Experts Investigate

Ukraine, Russia Trade Blame Over Nuclear Plant as UN Experts Investigate
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks with journalists after he and a part of the IAEA mission came back from a Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at a Ukrainian checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Sept. 1, 2022. Anna Voitenko/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—Ukraine and Russia traded accusations over each others’ actions around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Friday as a team of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog tried to check the safety of the facility and avert a potential disaster.

Ukraine’s state nuclear company said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission had not been allowed to enter the plant’s crisis center, where Ukraine says Russian troops are stationed, and would struggle to make an impartial assessment.