IAEA needs access to Ukraine nuclear plant - ambassador

A team of inspectors, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), must be allowed into the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible, Ukraine’s representative to the organisation has told the BBC.

The best option would be to remove Russian forces and weapons from the site - the largest nuclear complex in Europe - and for Ukrainians to regain full control of the power plant, Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk told BBC World News.

Russian forces have occupied the site since early March. Some staff at the power plant have told the BBC that they are being “kept at gunpoint”.

Heavy shelling has taken place on and around the nuclear plant over the past two weeks, with Ukraine and Russia both blaming each other for the attacks.

18 August 2022