President Zelensky meets team from nuclear watchdog in Kyiv

President Zelensky meets team from nuclear watchdog in Kyiv ahead of their visit to Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant amid fears of a Chernobyl-style disaster

• President Volodymyr Zelensky met with top UN nuclear inspectors in Kyiv
• This was ahead of their visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant
• The plant has been targeted by shelling, sparking nuclear disaster concerns
• Zelensky said it was of top-priority regarding the safety of Ukraine and the world 

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with top UN nuclear inspectors in Kyiv ahead of their visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant, amid fears of a Chernobyl-style disaster.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Kyiv late Monday at the head of a 14-strong team for their long-awaited trip to the nuclear plant.

The plant – Europe’s largest atomic facility – has been occupied by Russian troops since early March and has been targeted by repeated shelling, resultin in holes appearing in the roof.

Zelensky said of the site: ‘We want the IAEA mission… to reach the plant and do everything possible to avoid the dangers’ of a nuclear disaster,’ according to a video released by the presidency.

President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) met with top UN nuclear inspectors, headed by Rafael Grossi (right) in Kyiv ahead of their visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant, amid fears of a Chernobyl-style disaster

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Kyiv late Monday at the head of a 14-strong team (pictured) for their long-awaited trip to the nuclear plant

The wartime President added: ‘This is probably one of the top-priority questions regarding the safety of Ukraine and the world today,’

He also called for the ‘immediate de-militarization of the plant’ and its transfer to ‘full Ukrainian control’.

Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom said the facility was targeted over the weekend by fresh shelling, with Moscow and Kyiv trading blame for attacks around the complex of six nuclear reactors, located on the banks of the Dnipro River.

 The wartime President said: ‘This is probably one of the top-priority questions regarding the safety of Ukraine and the world today,’

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant (pictured) has been occupied by Russian troops since early March and has been targeted by repeated shelling.

Holes have appeared in roofs of a building near the reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Meanwhile, intensive fighting raged across the nearby southern region of Kherson as Ukrainian troops pressed a major counter-offensive ‘in various directions’.

‘We forced them well back,’ said Victor, an infantryman in his 60s who declined to give a surname.

But his commander Oleksandr – a veteran of the Afghanistan war – predicted the fight to retake Kherson will be ‘long and complicated’.

Most of the region of Kherson bordering the Black Sea – and its provincial capital of the same name – were seized by Moscow’s military at the start of the invasion six months ago.

With the war in the eastern Donbas region largely stalled, analysts have said for weeks that combat is likely to shift south to break the stalemate before winter comes.

Also on Tuesday, fresh Russian strikes on the centre of northeastern city of Kharkiv killed at least five people and injured seven.

The fresh fighting came as students across Ukraine prepared for the start of a new academic year after schools were shut by the Russian invasion, now in its seventh month.

Only those schools with air-raid bunkers will be permitted to reopen, with the rest reverting to online learning.

‘We just want to live our life fully,’ said 16-year-old student Polina in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, intensive fighting raged across the nearby southern region of Kherson (pictured) as Ukrainian troops pressed a major counter-offensive ‘in various directions’

‘We are not afraid, we have already lived enough. Our generation has decided to live in the present moment.’

Meanwhile, EU defence ministers meeting in Prague started work on plans for the bloc to train Ukrainian soldiers.

‘There are many training initiatives but the needs are enormous,’ said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who says Ukrainian troops could be trained in nearby EU member states.

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