UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said the situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam is "serious" but said measures are being taken to stabilize the situation.
Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived on June 15 at the Russia-occupied nuclear power plant as the head of an inspection mission amid growing concerns about the safety of Europe's largest nuclear station. The breach of the downstream dam last week reduced the supply of water that the plant uses to keep its reactors from overheating.
Grossi's arrival, which was postponed by a day due to security concerns, was announced by Ukraine's nuclear energy company, Enerhoatom, on Telegram on June 15.
Until a few hours ago I was not sure whether I would be able to come here and visit the plant," Grossi said, describing the trip as "extremely difficult" but "important."
He said he was able to see the plant's cooling pond and "there was sufficient water" but also said he wanted the world to be "aware of the danger" that there could be a "major accident."
After the inspection was over, Grossi's convoy had to halt briefly because of gunfire, but the convoy was not in immediate danger, a spokesman for the IAEA told Reuters. The agency had no further information about the incident.
Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Russia’s nuclear power plant operator, Rosenergoatom, accused Ukraine of opening fire on the convoy, according to TASS. The report said no one was hurt and the convoy returned safely to the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhya.
Grossi, who held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on June 13, has voiced concerns that the Russian-controlled nuclear plant was facing "a relatively dangerous situation" from both the dam burst and the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against invading Russian troops.
His arrival was announced hours after Russia launched another wave of air strikes on Zaporizhzhya's neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region that hit two industrial facilities in the city of Kryviy Rih, causing substantial damage and wounding one person.
Authorities declared an air-raid alert across Ukraine overnight that was lifted around 5 a.m. local time on June 15.
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"A 38-year-old man was wounded. He is hospitalized in stable condition," Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.
Lysak said the strikes caused significant damage at the two facilities.
It was the third day in a row that Russia targeted the region. In the first such attack this month, 12 people were killed and 13 others, including three children, were wounded on June 13 by a Russian missile strike on a five-story apartment building in Kryviy Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Ukraine's air defense said on June 15 it had destroyed all 20 Iranian-made drones launched at Dnipropetrovsk, but three out of four Russian cruise missiles could not be intercepted and hit factories in Kryviy Rih.
Russia has stepped up its air attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks as Kyiv prepared to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces.
Zelenskiy last week acknowledged the operation was under way, with Moscow responding by ratcheting up its strikes with cruise missiles and drones targeting major cities across the country.
WATCH: A Russian cruise missile attack killed at least three people and injured 13 others in Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa. The strike destroyed civilian infrastructure, including a residential complex and a food warehouse.
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'Everything Turned Red': Russia Launches Deadly Cruise Missile Attack On Odesa
On the battlefield, fighting continued in and around Bakhmut, the city in the eastern Donetsk region that has been for months the scene of fierce battles.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its morning report on June 15 that 49 close combat battles took place in Bakhmut and nearby Avdiyivka and Maryinka over the past 24 hours.
While information about the progress of Ukraine's counteroffensive remained scarce, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 15 that the military aid that NATO members have given Ukraine is showing its impact on the battlefield.
"The support NATO allies have been giving Ukraine now for many, many months actually makes a difference on the battlefield," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels ahead of a two-day meeting of the bloc's defense ministers that is also going to be attended by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.