- One of the six nuclear reactors at the Zaporizhzhia power facility is functioning.
- Yevgeny Balitsky said his government had handed UN nuclear inspectors who visited the plant on Thursday details of alleged Ukrainian shelling.
One of the six nuclear reactors at the Zaporizhzhia power facility is functioning, according to the leader of the Russian-backed authority in occupied sections of Zaporizhzhia.
“One power unit remains in operation on Friday at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, delivering 60% of its capacity,” said Yevgeny Balitsky, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Until recently, power was supplied by two reactors.
Balitsky said his government had handed UN nuclear inspectors who visited the plant on Thursday details of alleged Ukrainian shelling in the region.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) staff “documented every object we showed… ‘We don’t give military scenario evaluations,’ they stated. They recorded the inbound shells, which are in the protocols, as well as the strikes, which we showed them “he added, adding that the Russian-backed authorities were interested in the IAEA’s official assessment of the plant’s operation and shelling.
This comes as Ukrainian and Russian authorities continue to accuse each other of attempting to undermine the IAEA’s mission to protect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Ukraine accused Russia of attempting to hinder the IAEA mission from learning the facts on the ground, claiming that this would make it difficult for the agency to “make an objective evaluation.”
“The Russian military lies, manipulates and misrepresents reality at Zaporizhzhia NPP by disseminating only information on the IAEA mission visit it could benefit from,” The Ukrainian nuclear power provider, Energoatom, said Friday.
Pro-Russian officials in the occupied territory, on the other hand, blame the Ukrainians for hindering the IAEA’s operations. During the visit, Ukraine “did not halt” bombardment, but “their intensity dramatically lowered,” according to an official.
