A United Nations nuclear watchdog team has set off on an urgent mission to safeguard the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant at the heart of fighting in Ukraine, a long-awaited trip that the world hopes will help avoid a radioactive catastrophe.
The stakes couldn't be higher for the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA) experts who will visit the plant in a country where the 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation throughout the region, shocking the world and intensifying a global push away from nuclear energy.
"Without an exaggeration, this mission will be the hardest in the history of IAEA," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
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Underscoring the urgency, Ukraine and Russia again accused each other of shelling the wider region around the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which was briefly knocked offline last week.
The dangers are so high that officials have begun handing out anti-radiation iodine tablets to nearby residents.
To avoid a disaster, IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi has sought access for months to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Russian forces have occupied since the early days of the six-month-old war. Ukrainian nuclear workers have operated the plant the whole time.
The day has come," Grossi tweeted Monday, adding that the Vienna-based IAEA's "Support and Assistance Mission ... is now on its way."
The IAEA said that its team will "undertake urgent safeguards activities," assess damage, determine the functionality of the plant's safety and security systems and evaluate the control room staff's working conditions.
Ukraine's nuclear energy agency, Energoatom, warned ON Monday of Russian attempts to cover up their military use of the plant.
"The occupiers, preparing for the arrival of the IAEA mission, increased pressure on the personnel ... to prevent them from disclosing evidence of the occupiers' crimes at the plant and its use as a military base," Energoatom said, adding that four plant workers were wounded in Russian shelling of the city where they live.
Ukraine accused Russia of new rocket and artillery strikes at or near the plant, intensifying fears that the fighting could cause a massive radiation leak.
So far, radiation levels at the facility, which has six reactors, have been reported to be normal.
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Ukraine has alleged that Russia is essentially holding the plant hostage, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it, while Moscow accuses Ukraine of recklessly firing on the facility.
World leaders have called on the Russians to demilitarise the plant. Satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies on Monday showed armoured personnel carriers on a road near the reactors, damage to a building's roof also near the reactors, and bushfires burning nearby.
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