IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said the agency considers the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine a “Ukrainian facility”.
Grossi made these statements after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital, Kyiv.
Grossi noted that he had spoken with Zelensky about the “administrative consequences of the Russian annexation process” of the Zaporizhia region, in a move widely described as illegal.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to formalize Russia’s acquisition of the nuclear facility, which is still managed by a Ukrainian task force.
Grossi said the IAEA team stationed at the Zaporizhia facility could expand from two to four members.
The fighting around the nuclear facility has heightened safety concerns, leading Grossi to call for a safe zone.
Grossi explained that the aim of his invitation is to prevent a nuclear accident, noting that he will discuss the proposal during his planned visit to Moscow.
And the city of Zaporizhia was subjected to a Russian bombardment earlier on Thursday. The Ukrainian emergency services reported that three people were killed when shells fell on a residential area.
District Governor Oleksandr Staruch said that twelve people were wounded, and that rescue workers had been trying for hours after the bombing to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
A BBC correspondent in Zaporizhia reported that he heard three subsequent explosions following the first attack. An eyewitness to the first attack told the BBC that she had elderly relatives in one of the buildings that had been bombed, and that “there is very little hope that her relatives are alive”.
picture released, Getty Images
Ukrainian firefighters put out a fire after a raid in Zaporizhia
In the latest update of the Russian Defense Ministry bulletin, there was no reference to the bombing of Zaporizhia, although the update mentioned the destruction of weapons depots near Zaporizhia.
At the first summit of the European Political Group, Zelensky spoke by video link, focusing specifically on the alleged Russian attacks earlier in the day on apartment buildings in Zaporizhia.
In this, Zelensky said: “After the first raid today, while the people were trying to clear the wreckage, Russia launched a second raid… the ultimate in humility, the pinnacle of evil.”
Speaking to the European summit, Zelensky said Ukraine had never wanted war – but Europe was now in a “strong position” to channel its energies and end the conflict.
The Ukrainian president promoted his idea as a way to ensure a broader peace in Europe, saying, “So Russia’s tanks do not find a way to Warsaw or to Prague again.”
“We have to admit the obvious – we are compelled to deal with a country that does not want peace … a country that responds to all proposals for real peace with missile attacks, and by fabricating crises, not to mention sarcasm,” Zelensky said.
Following the attack on Zaporizhia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged to punish Russia, noting that seven Russian missiles had hit civilians who were “sleeping peacefully in their homes” during the night, adding that more missiles landed during the day.
“The Russians continue to deliberately hit civilians to instill fear. Russian terrorism must be stopped – by force of arms, sanctions and complete isolation,” he said on Twitter.
Close to the front line, Zaporizhia is the capital of a region of the same name that Russia has illegally declared.
Other non-military sites across Ukraine were bombed, including power stations, transmission lines, and apartment buildings.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is retaliating for its recent setbacks on the battlefield.
Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye under Russian missile attack
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to achieve “stability” in four Ukrainian regions, which he declared illegally annexed.
Moscow does not control all the territory in any of these four regions. Moscow had lost lands in certain areas, but pledged to take back any lands it lost.
Ukrainian forces are advancing in the south and east. Serhiy Hayday, the regional governor of Luhansk, told the BBC on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured six villages in the area.
President Zelensky later said that his country’s forces had retaken three more villages in the Kherson region.
The Ukrainian counterattack also succeeded in retaking the strategic city of Lyman.