The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Europe’s largest nuclear energy facility, has been under Russian control since February 2022, when it began full-scale military operations.
In recent days, a team of IAEA experts crossed the front lines on behalf of their colleagues at the Zaporizhzhia plant, who have been monitoring nuclear safety and security since September 2022. The existence of “IAEA Support and Support Missions” at ZNPP and four other nuclear facilities has implications. “This is to prevent radiological accidents during military conflicts,” the IAEA said in a statement.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said: “We will remain at these sites for as long as necessary to avert the threat of a nuclear accident that could have serious consequences for human health and the environment in Ukraine and other countries.” I will stay,” he said. “The nuclear safety and security situation remains very challenging, so our experts continue to play a key role in stabilizing all these facilities.”
Media reports say fighting and drone attacks continue near the Zaporizhia factory in southeastern Ukraine.
ever-present conflict
“During the past week, the team continued to hear frequent explosions at some distance from the ZNPP. No damage to the ZNPP was reported,” the IAEA said. The agency’s team said that the safety and security of Khmelnytsky, Rivne, four other nuclear power plants in southern Ukraine and the Chernobyl site is ongoing, including with air raid warnings. “The situation has been maintained despite the impact of the conflict,” he said. A few days in the past week. ”
At the Zaporizhzhia plant, the IAEA said it had received a report that two backup transformers have resumed operation after successful high-voltage tests, and that the remaining four backup transformers will undergo maintenance by the end of the year.
The IAEA expert team also discussed the winter preparedness of nuclear power plants and reported that it received confirmation that all six reactors are in cold shutdown.
The IAEA expert team also discussed the winter preparedness of nuclear power plants and reported that it received confirmation that all six reactors are in cold shutdown.
Humanitarian crisis worsens
The latest information from the UN aid team highlights the deepening humanitarian crisis across Ukraine, particularly in the frontline areas of the northeast, east and south, due to an “intensified offensive” by Russian forces. United Nations human rights monitors have confirmed more than 1,400 casualties since Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
“Humanitarian response efforts face increasing challenges, including security risks. “Six aid workers were killed or injured in July and August alone,” said the United Nations aid coordination office OCHA. Ta. The report noted that in the first nine months of this year, humanitarian organizations provided at least one form of assistance to 7.2 million of the 8.5 million people they supported.
This is despite the fact that the humanitarian appeal for Ukraine in 2024 received less than half of the $3.11 billion requested.
“Civilians remaining in the frontline areas of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Khersons, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporozhye oblasts face dire living conditions, which are expected to worsen as winter approaches,” OCHA warned. did.
Repeated attacks on energy infrastructure are “expected to exacerbate the difficulties civilians will face in the coming winter,” the UN agency continued, disrupting essential services such as water, gas and heating. emphasized the possibility that this may occur.
The attacks early Thursday injured dozens of civilians and damaged apartments and hospitals in the capital Kiev and the frontline areas of Odessa, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv, Kherson and Donetsk, local authorities and United Nations partners said. , Sumy and Mikolaiu.
OCHA reported that aid workers quickly mobilized to provide psychological support, construction materials, and cash assistance to vulnerable people.
Witnessing first-hand the humanitarian impact of the attack, Matthias Schmare of the UN Resident Coordination Office in Ukraine met with local authorities and humanitarian partners to discuss ways to strengthen the humanitarian response.
