Head of the UN Atomic Energy Agency visits Chernobyl

The head of the United Nations atomic energy agency said Friday that he will lead “very soon” a mission to support the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, after Russian forces have left the site.

The Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said that the exit of Russian forces from the former nuclear power plant, which was inoperative after the 1986 disaster, is a “step in the right direction”.

The official, who was speaking after his visit to Ukraine and Russia, said he hoped to go “very very soon” to Chernobyl, indicating that he would follow more nuclear security missions in Ukraine.

Rafael Mariano Grossi explained that the Moscow officials he spoke with did not tell him why Russian forces had abandoned Chernobyl.

“The general radiological situation around the plant is completely normal. There was a relatively higher level of radiation due to the movement of heavy vehicles at the time the plant was occupied and the same will happen at the exit. [das tropas]’, he explained.

Ukraine’s state energy company said Russian forces had received “large doses” of radiation to dig trenches in the restricted area around the plant, but the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he had no confirmation that the soldiers had been hit.

Ukraine confirmed on Friday that it had regained control of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant and confirmed that it would work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess the damage caused during the Russian occupation.

The confirmation came by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, who Russia has been accused of acting irresponsibly during the more than four weeks it occupied the buildingPrevent employees from doing all necessary work in polluted areas.

At a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, the Ukrainian minister also said that Russia had endangered the lives of its soldiers by exposing them to radiation.

Ukrainian authorities told the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday that they had regained control of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after the departure of Russian forces that had occupied it since February 24.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located north of Kyiv, is inactive, but it still requires monitoring, analysis and monitoring tasks.

After the former factory was occupied by the Russian army on February 24, the former factory was a concern of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as workers there were held for about a month without rest.

Only on March 20 began the shift of workers, which was completed the next day.