The chief of the UN's nuclear watchdog said six inspectors remain at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant and that he plans to issue a report on the safety of the Russian-held site next week, even as heavy fighting was reported near Europe's largest nuclear facility.
Rafael Grossi, who led a 14-member team to the plant, said late on September 2 that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) on-site presence will be reduce to two staff members next week and that they would remain there for the longer term.
Separately, in a rare acknowledgment, Ukraine's military said it had conducted strikes against Russian military positions in around the town of Enerhodar, near the location of the nuclear plant.
"It has been confirmed that in the region around the towns of Kherson and Enerhodar, precise strikes by our armed forces destroyed three enemy artillery systems as well as a warehouse with ammunition and up to a company of soldiers," the General Staff said, without providing details.
Both sides in recent weeks have exchanged claims that the other has shelled the power plant, raising fears of a nuclear disaster and spurring the IAEA to demand that the Russian occupying force allow its inspectors access to the site.
Russia's ambassador to international institutions in Vienna earlier told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that six experts from the IAEA mission would stay at the site for several days, while two would be stationed there permanently.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has demanded that the plant be returned to Ukrainian authority and he lamented that the IAEA had failed to push for the demilitarization of the site and had not ensured access for independent media.
SEE ALSO: Russia's Stranglehold On The World's Nuclear Power CycleUkrainian officials reported "constant mortar attacks" by the Russian forces that hit several civilian buildings on September 1. Local officials in Zaporizhzhya also said the Russians troops were shelling "the pre-agreed route of the IAEA mission from [the city of] Zaporizhzhya to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant."
In turn, Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukrainian forces of attempting to seize the power plant.
Enerhoatom said on September 2 that it had reconnected the No. 5 reactor to the grid after it was shut down due to the shelling.
"Currently, two power units are operating at the station, which produce electricity for the needs of Ukraine," it said.
The Zaporizhzhya plant has been occupied by Russian forces but run by Ukrainian engineers since the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is using the facility as a shield, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it, while Moscow denies the allegations and accuses Ukraine of recklessly firing on the area. Both sides say they fear a nuclear catastrophe due to shelling they blame on each other.