ENERGODAR, September 4. /TASS/. Fragmentations of US-manufactured rockets, used by the Ukrainian military against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and discovered later at the site, were shown to a mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Head of the Energodar military-civilian administration Alexander Volga told TASS on Sunday.
According to Volga, the IAEA fact-finding mission team, led by Director General Rafael Grossi, was demonstrated a map of the Ukrainian military strikes targeting the area of the Zaporozhye NPP.
"The most important is that we showed him [Grossi] fragmentations, which were discovered at the scene following an explosion," he said. "They match rounds possibly fired by US multiple rocket launchers, rockets manufactured by other Western countries and artillery shells fired by [US-made] M-777 howitzers."
Volga said Grossi was provided with the proof of fired rockets and a map of locations hit by them, including nuclear fuel storages.
"It included an area of the spent nuclear fuel storage, which was shelled repeatedly," Volga stated. "He [Grossi] certainly took a notice of everything clearly understanding that there were also strikes delivered by combat drones targeting the NPP substation."
On Thursday, the IAEA fact-finding mission team visited the Zaporozhye plant to estimate the material damage to the facility and to evaluate the operational capabilities of the nuclear station’s safety and security systems. After inspecting the Zaporozhye NPP, Grossi told reporters the experts had conducted an initial assessment, had seen "the key things" they needed to see, and were planning to stay on.
Meanwhile, Energodar residents, who Grossi talked to before leaving the plant, handed him a petition with over 20,000 signatures, calling for an end to Ukraine’s provocations against the nuclear power plant. They also handed the IAEA chief evidence related to the bombardments of the city by the Ukrainian armed forces, including photos and statements from eyewitnesses.
Energodar, which is the site of the Zaporozhye plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power facility, has been the target of shelling attacks by the Ukrainian military over the past few weeks. When carrying out its strikes against the nuclear power plant, the Kiev regime is using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. In most cases, the attacks are repelled by Russian air defense systems. However, some rockets hit the NPP’s infrastructural facilities, including nuclear waste storage sites.
On the morning of September 1, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian troops attempted to disembark at 07:00 at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, near the Vodyanoe village. The attempted raid was thwarted by Russia’s Armed Forces, when they sank two self-propelled barges carrying saboteurs that departed from Nikopol.
Also, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, at 06:20 Moscow time, the Kiev regime carried out a landing by two Ukrainian sabotage groups with a total number of up to 60 people on seven speedboats on the coast of the Kakhovka reservoir, three kilometers north-east of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian servicemen were hemmed in by units of the Russian National Guard and the Russian Armed Forces.