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IAEA mission to come to Zaporozhye nuclear plant within days — IAEA chief

"We have a general understanding that we need to be there, we need to be there soon. Kiev accepts it, Russia accepts it, we need to go," Rafael Grossi stressed

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi AP Photo/Florian Schroetter

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi

© AP Photo/Florian Schroetter

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. IAEA director general Rafael Grossi on Thursday said a delegation of the organization will come to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in the next few days.

"We have a general understanding that we need to be there, we need to be there soon. Kiev accepts it, Russia accepts it, we need to go. We hope to be there very, very soon," Grossi said on France-24 television.

When pressed for when that might be, he said a mission will come to the plant within a few days.

The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, located in the city of Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces have inflicted several strikes on the territory of the station in recent days, using, in particular, drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. In most cases, the attacks are repelled by air defense systems, but some shells hit the infrastructure and the area of the nuclear waste repository, which raises the risk of radiation leaks. IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said on August 19 that talks were underway to send an IAEA mission to the plant.

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