The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant will be open for UN experts to come and conduct inspections, according to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
After speaking over the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin released the information. It happened after UN head Antonio Guterres told the BBC that the situation at the facility is "concerning."
Putin Allows Inspectors To Visit Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
He called for a stop to military activities near Zaporizhzhia and asked Moscow to let inspectors in. Although Russian forces have controlled the location since the beginning of March, Ukrainian experts continue to work there under Russian orders. The Kremlin stated in a readout that Putin had agreed to give UN investigators "the necessary assistance" to reach the site. This came after the call between the French and Russian presidents.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general praised Putin's remarks and offered to personally conduct a visit to the nuclear power plant. According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has converted the facility into an army post, where it has stationed 500 personnel, military equipment, and weaponry while also utilizing it as a defensive position against communities on the other side of the Dnieper River.
Additionally, massive artillery fire has been directed at the vicinity of the plant in recent weeks, with Kyiv and Moscow both blaming the other for the strikes. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, criticized "deliberate" Russian strikes on the power plant at a meeting with Guterres and Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.
Oleksandr Starukh, a representative of Ukraine and the head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, spoke about smoke and sound explosions outside the facility on Friday. He said that nobody was harmed and that it was the consequence of active Ukrainian defense forces, according to Newsweek via MSN.
Russia Accuses Ukraine of Preparing "Provocation"
Explosives connected within the facility may significantly enhance the likelihood of a meltdown and have far-reaching harmful repercussions, according to nuclear expert Hamish de Breton-Gordon.
Nuclear experts warn of adverse effects on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as well as an overall bad influence on climate change, saying that the repercussions of a prospective plant closure might be significant. A day after the UN was requested to safeguard the area by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at their meeting in the east Ukrainian city of Lviv, warnings of a nuclear disaster were issued.
Per Al Jazeera, Moscow said that Kyiv was preparing a "provocation" at the location on Thursday, accusing Russia of "creating a man-made crisis at the plant." However, Kyiv asserted that Moscow was behind the provocation and said that the Russian occupying troops had told most employees to stay at home on Friday and called in representatives of Russia's own state nuclear agency.
Following a historic agreement with Russia last month to enable its export, the UN head was in Odesa as part of a plea to make Ukrainian grain available to impoverished nations battling with skyrocketing food prices. Zelenskyy stated that the UN wanted to step up work on the agreement before the winter when Guterres earlier visited with Erdogan, who assisted in brokering the grain pact struck in Istanbul.
Related Article : Russia-Ukraine War: Radioactive Risk Threatens Germany, Poland, Slovakia Facing if Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Takes More Damage
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