And even though both Ukraine and Russia welcomed the mission, both sides continued to accuse each other of sparking the conflict by shelling the wider area around the plant. Neither side’s claims can be independently verified. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, has for months sought access to the Zaporizhia plant, Europe’s largest, which has been seized by Russian forces and run by Ukrainian workers since the early days of the six-month war. His announcement came as Ukraine accused Russia of fresh missile and artillery strikes at or near the plant, heightening fears that the fighting could trigger a massive radioactive leak. The facility, which has six reactors, had already been temporarily shut down under a barrage of bombings last week. “The day has come,” Grossi tweeted, adding that the Vienna-based IAEA’s “Support and Assistance Mission” was now on its way. It is scheduled to arrive later this week. Grossi didn’t give a more precise timeline or provide more details beyond posting a photo of him with 13 other experts. Ukraine has claimed that Russia is effectively holding the plant hostage, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it, while Moscow accuses Ukraine of firing recklessly into the facility. On Monday, Ukraine reported shelling in Nikopoli, the city across the Dnieper River from the nuclear plant, and said one person was killed and five others were wounded. In Enerhodar, just a few kilometers from the plant, the town’s Ukrainian mayor, Dmytro Orlov, blamed Russian shelling for injuries to at least 10 residents. “Apparently, (the Russians) rehearsed their script before the IAEA mission arrived,” Orlov said on Telegram. The UN agency said the mission would assess physical damage to the facilities, “determine the functionality of safety and security systems” and assess personnel conditions, among other things. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that “without exaggeration, this mission will be the most difficult in the history of the IAEA.” “We expect from the mission a clear statement of the facts, of the violation of all nuclear protocols, nuclear safety protocols. We know that Russia is putting not only Ukraine at risk, but the entire world at risk of a nuclear accident,” Kuleba said in Stockholm. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of shelling in and around the plant. “We believe that all countries should put pressure on the Ukrainian side to force it to stop threatening the European continent by bombing the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the surrounding areas,” he said. Peskov noted that Russia will ensure the safety of the IAEA mission “in view of the constant threats associated with the merciless shelling from the Ukrainian side.” Ukraine’s Atomic Energy Organization has painted an ominous picture of the threat by issuing a forecast map of where radioactivity could spread from the Zaporizhia plant, which was controlled by Russian forces soon after the war began. Attacks were also reported over the weekend on both Russian-controlled territory next to the plant along the left bank of the Dnieper River and along the Ukrainian-controlled right bank, including the towns of Nikopol and Marhanets, each about 10 kilometers (six miles). from the installation. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces attacked the plant twice in the past day and that shells fell near buildings that store reactor fuel and radioactive waste. “One projectile fell in the area of the sixth power unit and the other five in front of the sixth unit’s pumping station, which provides cooling for this reactor,” Konashenkov said, adding that radiation levels were normal. The charges could not be independently verified. The IAEA said on Sunday that the radiation levels were normal. two of the Zaporizhzhia plant’s six reactors were operating and that while a full assessment had yet to be made, recent fighting had damaged a water pipe that has since been repaired. But in a war now in its seventh month, Monday’s lone piece of good news could hardly break the general gloom darkening everything from frontline villages to global food supplies and the global economy. The highest number of casualties — eight civilians killed and seven wounded — in the past 24 hours was reported in the eastern region of Donetsk. Russian forces struck the towns of Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka overnight, and the region’s Ukrainian governor, Pavlo Kirilenko, urged remaining residents to evacuate immediately. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was hit by cluster munitions on Monday morning, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Ukraine’s presidential office also reported heavy fighting and multiple Ukrainian strikes in the southern Kherson region, most of which is occupied by the Russians. Ukrainian forces have recently struck ammunition depots and Russian military positions there.
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