• UN nuclear experts have conducted their initial inspection of the Ukrainian power plant owned by Russia at Zaporizhzhia and will continue to do so.
• Europe’s biggest nuclear facility is located near Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine.
• The plant’s Ukrainian employees claim that Russian troops have used it as a military base and that employees are in fact being detained at gunpoint.

UN nuclear experts have conducted their initial inspection of the Ukrainian power plant owned by Russia at Zaporizhzhia and will continue to do so.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, claimed that “many violations” had been made to the “plant and physical integrity of the plant.”

Russian soldiers escorted the inspectors to the plant after a perilous journey that was delayed by shelling.

Each other has been accused of attempting to destroy the mission by Russia and Ukraine.

Europe’s biggest nuclear facility is located near Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine. Russia quickly captured it after annexing Ukraine in February.

The plant’s Ukrainian employees claim that Russian troops have used it as a military base and that employees are in fact being detained at gunpoint.

“We’re not leaving here. The IAEA is currently present at the facility and will remain there “Once he had returned to territory controlled by the Ukrainians, Mr. Grossi stated.

He did not, however, say how many or how long they would be staying.

Eight to twelve inspectors would continue working, according to the Russian news agency Interfax, while five inspectors would continue working, according to the state nuclear business of Ukraine, Energoatom.

The inspectors intend to examine the plant’s condition and speak with the Ukrainian employees who are under Russian authority.

Battles near the factory, said to Mr. Grossi, “are not going to hinder” the inspection.

“There were moments where the fire was obvious, heavy machine gun, artillery mortars, at two or three times [it was] really very concerning, I would say, for all of us,” he said.

Olli Heinonen, a former chief inspector for the IAEA, told the BBC that even if there are interviews, employees might not be as forthcoming about the dangers to their own and their families safety.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, expressed his optimism that the inspectors would “draw objective findings” during his nightly speech, but he bemoaned the absence of foreign journalists from the mission.

“We have clear evidence that Russia did a lot of cynical things to deceive the mission,” he added. “The occupiers forced people to lie to the IAEA representatives – to hand over some papers, sign something, say something.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff said that Russia was attempting to “wreck” the mission by shelling both the facility and the nearby, Moscow-controlled town of Enerhodar.

Andriy Yermak claimed on Telegram that criminal activity must be stopped and compared Russia to a “terrorist state.”

Russia denied this, claiming that 60 Ukrainian “saboteurs” were killed on Thursday morning while attempting to cross the river to retake the plant.

In response to growing concerns of a plant catastrophe, the EU is providing Ukraine with more than five million anti-radiation medicines.

The plant has sustained some damage as a result of recent fighting in the neighborhood, although radiation levels in the region have not yet been observed to rise.

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