Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia to assess the safety situation, the state-owned news agency TASS reported on Aug. 27.
The visit follows allegations from Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials that Ukraine has tried — or intends to try — to attack the plant amid the ongoing Ukrainian incursion in the area. Kyiv has denied the allegations.
Grossi said earlier in August that he would visit the plant to assess safety risks associated with the ongoing fighting.
Following the visit to the plant, Grossi will go to Kyiv, where he is scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Beyond the accusations that Kyiv is planning to attack the Kursk plant, Russia has also claimed, without providing evidence, that Ukrainians will try to strike the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of using the plant for nuclear blackmail and endangering its safety.
Kyiv said on Aug. 11 that Russian forces set fire to "a large number of automobile tires in cooling towers" at the nuclear plant in an effort to "create panic in the settlements on the right bank of the former reservoir."
Dinara Khalilova
