IAEA proposed a visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after the seizure by Russian forces

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, proposed to conduct a visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" and described the situation as "untenable".

"The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains complicated due to the presence of Russian forces and (company) Rosatom personnel at the site. Although the IAEA continues to adjust its safeguards activities, the situation is untenable," he said in a statement.

On the other hand, he reported that data transmission from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been fully restored. "This is a very important step for the IAEA to continue implementing safety guarantees in Ukraine," he added.

Regarding the country's 15 operating reactors at four nuclear power plants, Ukraine has told the agency that seven are currently online, including two at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, two at Rivne, two in southern Ukraine and one at the Khmelnitsky NPP.

Russian forces seized the plant on March 4. A scant week ago, Grossi met with Russian Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev and other senior Russian officials in Istanbul to discuss the safety conditions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

ATTACKS IN MARIUPOL

The Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that Russian troops "do not stop inflicting air strikes" on the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where humanitarian corridors have also failed, the mayor's aide, Petro Andriushchenko, reported.

"In Mariupol, the main efforts of the Russian occupiers are focused on blocking and trying to destroy our units in the area of the Azovstal plant. The enemy does not stop inflicting air strikes," the Ukrainian Armed Forces noted in their latest report.

For his part, Andriushchenko emphasized that in Mariupol there is practically no water, food and living space, a situation which has precipitated the Ukrainian authorities to propose to Russia the exchange of fighters from the steel mill in exchange for Russian prisoners.

Likewise, in another part of the country, the head of the Chernygov Regional military administration, Vyacheslav Chaus, informed via Telegram that there are dead and wounded -- at the moment a balance is unknown -- by bombings in schools, office buildings and private houses in Novgorod-Siversky.

On the other hand, the mayor of Lozova, Sergei Zelensky, pointed out that, as a result of shelling by Russian troops, a warehouse of agricultural products has been destroyed in this region of Kharkiv.

(With information from Europa Press)

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