Chris Lange, FISM News
Fourteen United Nations nuclear inspectors arrived in Ukraine early Wednesday as they began making their way toward the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant with the hope of preventing a nuclear catastrophe.
“We are going to a war zone. We are going to occupied territory,” Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said of the unprecedented wartime mission for the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the Associated Press reported. “This is the first time, it’s the first time of anybody’s going to cross the front line,” he continued.
Grossi said he and his team had been given “explicit guarantees” from Russia that the inspectors would be able to inspect and work to secure the plant unhindered. Still, the mission is fraught with danger: inspectors may be forced to pass through active combat areas and no cease-fire has been announced. If all goes according to plan, they are expected to arrive in the Zaporizhzhia region later on Wednesday.
Heavy fighting around Europe’s largest nuclear power station has sparked fears of a massive radiation leak. The plant has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the six-month war and is still being operated by Ukrainian workers.
But while the inspectors crossed into Ukraine, Russian-backed authorities in Zaporizhzhia accused Ukrainian forces of shelling areas around the site, including the nearby city of Enerhodar, overnight. Russia and Ukraine have traded near-daily cross-accusations of attacks in the region for weeks, fueling fears of an impending disaster.
Russian-installed local authorities in Enerhodar said Wednesday that the Ukrainian forces have launched 60 strikes near the plant in a 24-hour period. Kyiv has not responded to the most recent allegation but has previously denied any such attacks.
Kyiv has been calling for international assistance to help demilitarize the area.
“We think that the mission should be a very important step to return (the plant) to Ukrainian government control by the end of the year,” Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko told the AP.
Russia’s Gazprom shuts down Nord Stream 1 again
Meanwhile, Russia on Wednesday accused the German government of sabotaging energy relations between the two countries hours after state-run Gazprom shut off the Nord Stream 1 pipeline which supplies gas to Europe. The state-run gas giant claimed the pipeline had been shut down for maintenance and that it will be reopened on Sept. 3, Reuters reported.
The president of the German network regulator said that Germany would be able to cope with the three-day outage as long as flows resumed on Saturday.
“I assume that we will be able to cope with it,” Klaus Mueller, president of the German network regulator, told Reuters. “I trust that Russia will return to at least 20% from Saturday, but no one can really say.”
Gazprom shut Nord Stream down for 10 days last month, again citing maintenance requirements.
European nations are struggling under a 400% increase in wholesale gas prices since August of last year. In Germany, meanwhile, inflation has reached its highest level in almost half a century.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia wishes to honor its gas supply commitments but is unable to fulfill them under Western sanctions.
US to announce more security assistance to Ukraine
Back in Washington, the Defense Department is expected to announce additional security aid for Ukraine in the near future.
“There will be announcements of future security assistance in coming days,” Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby was quoted as saying at a Wednesday news briefing.