Ukraine tried to seize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant before the visit of the IAEA delegation

Since the morning of September 1, the arrival of the IAEA delegation was expected at the Zaporozhye NPP. The command of the Ukrainian troops was preparing a surprise for the guests, planning a daring landing operation to capture the nuclear power plant. According to a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, after the shelling of the territory of the station and the Russian checkpoint in Vasilyevka, through which the mission was supposed to pass, up to 60 saboteurs were landed 3 km from the station at 6.20 Moscow time.

They were blocked and destroyed using helicopters and artillery. Then, according to the Ministry of Defense, two self-propelled barges with the Ukrainian military were also sunk – the second wave of landings. The Ministry of Defense later issued a statement that the purpose of the Ukrainian actions was to seize the station before the arrival of the IAEA mission in order to confront it with the fact of Ukrainian control and insist on the creation of a “demilitarized zone”, i.e., the withdrawal of Russian troops. Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have traditionally accused the Russian military of another self-shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as well as of simulating a Ukrainian landing.

The IAEA mission headed by the director of the agency Rafael Grossi, despite the shelling and fighting near the station, arrived on the afternoon of September 1 at the nuclear power plant. According to Grossi, he managed to collect the most important information in a few hours. Reuters reported that the mission’s stay could be shortened – it was previously expected that it would stay until September 3. But Grossi said that part of the IAEA staff could stay at the station on a permanent basis.