VIENNA, June 16. /TASS/. A convoy of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with Director-General Rafael Grossi had to stop for a few minutes while returning to the Ukraine-controlled territory due to shooting in the area, but there was no immediate threat to the international delegation, an IAEA spokesperson has told Reuters.

"Convoy was stopped and gunfire was distinctly heard for a few minutes but the convoy was not in immediate danger. The agency doesn’t have any other information about the incident," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

An adviser to the director general of Russia’s Rosenergoatom nuclear power engineering company, Renat Karchaa, told TASS late on Thursday that the armed forces of Ukraine violated the truce and opened fire when the IAEA mission was on its way back to the territories controlled by Kiev. According to him, the IAEA team had to wait it out briefly, but Grossi has already arrived in the city of Zaporozhye. No injuries were reported in the convoy. Karchaa stressed that Kiev had guaranteed that the ceasefire would be in place until 6:00 p.m., but Ukrainian troops started shooting before this period expired.