The IAEA mission has stopped, for the moment, on thresholds of Zaporizhzhia .
The technicians of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who arrived in Ukraine to monitor the very delicate situation in the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, will enter the area of the plant no earlier than tomorrow.
UN experts, who arrived in a convoy from Kiev, were stranded for the whole day at the gates of Energodar , the city in Russian hands where the headquarters are located. No "special pass" to enter, warned Volodymyr Rogov, a member of the regional council loyal to Moscow.
They will not be able to stay more than 24 hours in the plant for their monitoring interventions , the pro-Russians have warned again. The inspectors "have one day to inspect the operation of the plant. If they say that some things need to be done, we will be able to do it during the inspection," said Yevhen Balytskyi, head of the pro-Russian regional administration.
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The news by the hour:
Moscow: "On visas we will decide answers that the EU does not expect"
The EU decision to suspend the facilitated visa issuing regime with Russia "will not remain without consequences", in response Moscow "will decide whether the measures will be symmetrical, asymmetrical or other that the EU does not expect. If Brussels has decided to shoot themselves in the foot once again is their choice. " Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told RIA Novosti.
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Chief Aiea: "In Zaporizhzhia to avoid the nuclear accident"
The IAEA mission wants to "avoid a nuclear accident" in the Zaporizhzhia plant occupied by Russian forces: said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Filorussi: "The IAEA has only one day in Zaporizhzhia"
The mission of the IAEA inspectors to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will last only one day. This was stated by Yevhen Balytskyi, head of the civil-military administration of the Russian-appointed Zaporizhzhia Oblast, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda. The inspectors "have a day to inspect the operation of the plant. If they say that some elements need to be worked on, we will be able to do so during the inspection." So far the IAEA's stated goal is to "inspect the operation of the plant. This seems rather vague to us," Balytskyi said.
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Moscow: "1,700 Ukrainian soldiers died in the counter-offensive"
The Ukrainian army has lost over 1,700 men, four planes and 63 tanks in two days of "failed" offensive along the Mykolaiv-krivyi Rih line, in the south of the country, and other fronts, according to the Russian defense ministry, according to what Interfax reports.
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Crimea, an oil depot on fire
An oil depot is on fire in a village near the city of Dzhankoy, in the Crimea: this was reported by the Twitter account of Nexta, a Belarusian opposition site that broadcasts in English from Warsaw, citing local Telegram channels. Nexta accompanies the tweet with a short video of
a burning site from which a gigantic column of black smoke rises.
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Kiev does not stop the counter-offensive in the south
Ukraine continues its offensive against Moscow forces in the southern part of the country,
by pulling back the enemy front line "in some places" thanks to Russian defenses "relatively weak": British intelligence writes in its daily update on the situation in the country.
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Wheat, three more ships set sail
Three ships loaded with Ukrainian cereals will leave the country's ports today for Spain and Turkey:
this was announced by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) set up in Istanbul. Interfax reports it.
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Aiea towards Zaporizhzhia
A convoy of cars from the International Atomic Energy Agency (Aiea) mission left Kiev on Wednesday morning and headed for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Energodar, according to witnesses quoted by international media.