The already dangerous situation at the Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya is getting worse, the UN's nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.
The drone attacks on the plant were "significantly increasing the risk of a nuclear accident," said Rafael Grossi, the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
At a special meeting of the IAEA board of governors, he urged military decision-makers and the international community to focus on de-escalating the hostilities around Europe's biggest nuclear plant.
Representatives of Moscow and Kiev, who were in attendance at the meeting, once again blamed each other for the attacks. Grossi, however, avoided apportioning blame.
On Sunday, the nuclear power plant was attacked by drones in three places, according to IAEA observers. The dome of a reactor and targets in the immediate vicinity of reactor buildings were hit. No serious structural damage was sustained, but one person was reported injured. The observers also reported shots fired by Russian forces stationed at the nuclear power plant.
On Tuesday, the IAEA team on site was informed by the plant's Russian management of another drone attack on a training centre at the nuclear power plant.
Grossi announced that he would be travelling to the UN Security Council in New York next week to advocate for the safety of the facility.
At the IAEA meeting, Ukrainian diplomat Nataliia Kostenko denounced Russian accusations that the Ukrainian military had attacked the nuclear power plant close to the front line as "lies" and said it was Russia "deliberately causing nuclear threats."
