The UN visit to the nuclear power plant was delayed by several hours due to the bombing
A visit by a team of experts from the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been ‘delayed’ for several hours due to increased military activity in the area.
There have been multiple reports of shelling on the route and in the area of the nuclear facility located at Enerhodar.
“The IAEA mission has been delayed next to the Ukrainian-controlled front line for about three hours,” an IAEA spokesman told NBC News this morning.
“Director General Grossi has personally negotiated with the Ukrainian military authorities to proceed and remains determined that this important mission will arrive at the ZNPP today.”
Russia-Ukraine trade accusations amid chaotic start to UN nuclear site visit
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of carrying out “provocations” and attacks on the route and in the area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on the morning of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspection of the site.
Ukrainian officials accused Russia of bombing the heavily guarded IAEA inspection team’s route to the plant and trying to sabotage their visit while officials in Enerhodar, where the central, reported that the city was attacked by Russian forces on Thursday morning.
“At this moment, helicopters, field artillery and rockets of the Russian army are shelling the city of Enerhodar,” said Yevhen Yevtushenko, the head of the military administration of the Nikopol district (Nikopol is on the opposite side of the river Dnipro from Enerhodar). on Telegram.
The mayor of Enerhodar in Ukraine, Dmytro Orlov, said on his Telegram account that civilian infrastructure had been attacked and that helicopters were circling above the city.
Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power company Energoatom said Thursday morning that the fifth reactor has been shut down at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant due to nearby shelling this morning.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is seen after speaking to members of the press before leaving the hotel with a delegation to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 1, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry countered Ukraine’s bombing of Enerhodar this morning and claimed that Ukrainian forces tried to “seize” the nuclear power plant.
“”Today, around 06:00 Moscow time, Ukrainian troops in two sabotage groups of up to 60 people in seven ships landed on the shore of the Kakhovka reservoir, three kilometers northeast of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and they have tried to seize the power plant,” the ministry said.
The enemy was destroyed, “including with the use of army aviation,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement reported by the Russian Interfax news agency.
The report went on to say that Enerhodar “was subjected to a massive artillery attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine” this morning in which an apartment building and a kindergarten (the same targets which Ukraine said it had hit Russia). CNBC could not immediately verify either report.
For his part, the head of the IAEA visit to the nuclear power plant has said that the mission will continue despite reports of intensified military activity nearby.
The UN nuclear watchdog’s visit to the nuclear facility, Europe’s largest, was always expected to spark a flurry of fighting, with both sides saying the other was planning “provocations” around from the time of the inspection.
—Holly Elliott
The nuclear power plant’s fifth reactor was shut down after a nearby bombing
Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power company Energoatom said Thursday morning that the fifth reactor has been shut down at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant due to nearby shelling this morning.
Attacks have been reported in the Enerhodar area where the plant is located, with Ukraine and Russia accusing each other of violence on the day a team of UN experts is due to carry out a security inspection.
There are widespread concerns about the stability of the complex amid the ongoing war.
Zelenskyy says the world narrowly escaped a radiation disaster on Thursday when Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid.
Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Energoatom told Telegram this morning that “as a result of another mortar shelling by Russian occupation forces at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant site, emergency protection was activated and the 5th unit of operational power was shut down.” He said a backup power line was also damaged.
“This is the second time in the last 10 days that the criminal actions of the rioters have caused the shutdown of the unit and the interruption of the power supply to the station,” Energoatom noted.
He said that power unit No. 6 continues to work in Ukraine’s energy system and at the same time feeds ZNPP’s own needs, adding that Ukrainian staff at the plant “were doing everything possible to eliminate damage to its infrastructure”.
—Holly Elliott
The US obtains the order to seize a Boeing 737 owned by the Russian firm Lukoil
An image of the Russian multinational energy company Lukoil’s Neder-Over-Heembeek depot on April 7, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry Monasse Getty Images News | Getty Images
The United States has obtained a warrant to seize a $45 million Boeing 737 jet owned by Russian energy firm PJSC Lukoil, the US Department of Justice said.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas authorized the seizure after finding “probable cause that the Boeing aircraft was subject to seizure for violations of federal law,” the department said in a statement .
Court documents revealed that the plane did not comply with sanctions the Commerce Department had enacted against Russia when it was “in and out” of the country. The plane last entered the United States in March 2019 and had Lukoil officials on board, according to the department.
The department has said it believes the plane is currently in Russia.
—Natalie Tham
The IAEA team leaves for a nuclear power plant despite reports of heavy shelling
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks to members of the press before leaving the hotel with a delegation to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzia, Ukraine, on September 1 of 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s mission to inspect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has begun, but this morning there are reports of shelling in the vicinity of Enerhodar, where the plant is located.
The IAEA team is due to begin an inspection of the plant this morning following growing concerns over the safety and stability of the facility, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, amid the ongoing war in Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for shelling in the area, and there were further reports of shelling in the region on Thursday.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the mission was aware of “increased military activity in the area” but was moving ahead with its plan to visit the facilities and meet with staff there, Reuters reported.
Russian news agency Interfax reported that its forces had fired on a group of Ukrainian troops that had landed in the Enerhodar region on Thursday morning.
Alexander Volga, head of the city’s provisional administration (an official installed by Russia), told Interfax that “there was a landing of Ukrainian troops, they are currently immobilized, lying in a country house. Our aviation is working on them. Scouts have discovered their location, they are currently being affected by fire. I think it will all be over in the near future, and we will win.”
Interfax repeated Russian claims that Enerhodar was “subjected to a massive artillery attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine” this morning in which it said apartment buildings and a kindergarten were hit.
Ukraine has not responded to those claims, but Oleksandr Starukh, the Ukrainian head of the Zaporizhzhia region, told Telegram on Thursday that Russian forces were shelling the pre-agreed route for the IAEA team to take to the plant nuclear
“The UN advance team cannot continue the movement due to security reasons. Ukraine continues to make efforts to organize the safe access of the international IAEA mission to the ZNPP. We demand the Russian Federation to stop the provocations and allow the IAEA unhindered access to Ukraine’s nuclear facility,” he said.
—Holly Elliott
Russia says it is trying to restore supply lines to troops in southern Ukraine
Russian forces are focusing their efforts on restoring supply lines and maintaining control over captured territories in Ukraine, the country’s armed forces said in an operational update Thursday morning.
“The opponent is focusing efforts on establishing full control over the territory of the Donetsk region, as well as holding the captured areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Nikolaiv regions,” said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a post on Facebook.
Black smoke rises from the front line in Mykolaiv Oblast on August 30, 2022. Ukraine has launched a major counter-offensive to retake the city of Kherson and the southern region of the same name. Kherson was the first Ukrainian city to fall into Russian hands after the invasion began in February.
Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images
The comments come amid a renewed push by Kyiv to reclaim land occupied by the Russians, particularly in the south of the country around the city of Kherson, which was one of the first cities to fall into Russian hands after the invasion .
Ukrainian forces have attacked supply routes into the city, including key bridges over the Dnipro…