The mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (Ukraine) on Thursday 1 September, while the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Robert Mardini, called for a halt to all military operations around the plant, warning that an attack would “catastrophic”.
On the ground, the Ukrainian army is continuing its counter-offensive in the south of the country, particularly around Kherson, occupied by Russian forces since the start of the war in Ukraine. The Russian army, however, assured that it has repelled the Ukrainian offensives in recent days, inflicting heavy losses on the Ukrainians. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of Thursday, September 1 on the war front in Ukraine.
A reactor stopped in Zaporijjia
One of the two reactors operating at the Zaporizhia power plant, occupied by the Russians since the beginning of March, was stopped due to Russian bombardments, Energoatom, the Ukrainian operator of atomic power plants, said on Thursday. One in six reactors continues to operate, he added.
On Thursday, Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of carrying out artillery strikes on Energodar, the town where the Zaporizhia plant is located, and on the route taken by the IAEA mission. The Russian army, for its part, accused Ukrainian troops of having sent “two groups of saboteurs” in the night. The commandos would have “landed in seven boats (…) three kilometers northeast of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and attempted to take the plant”, assured the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Russian army, according to the same source, took “measures to annihilate the enemy”.
IAEA ‘will stay’ at nuclear power plant
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi announced that members of the agency would “stay” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, after their arrival and inspection of the plant on Thursday. “There is a group that will be there until Sunday or Monday to continue the evaluation” of the situation on the spotdoes he have declared to the media upon his return to Kyiv-controlled territory.
“We achieved something very important today. And the most important thing is that the IAEA stays here. Let the world know that the IAEA stays in Zaporizhia”, he had said a little earlier, according to a video published by the Russian media Ria-Novosti. On Wednesday, Rafal Grossi had explained that the IAEA was going to try to establish a “permanent presence” at the plant after the visit.
During the inspection on Thursday, “we were able to gather a lot of information. I saw the main things I needed to see”he developed with the Russian press. The IAEA director also said that the‘“physical integrity of the plant” had “been raped several times”.
An evacuation center for Ukrainians
The European Union has opened a medical center in Poland to receive the wounded and sick from Ukraine, before their evacuation to other European countries by air, the Commission announced on Thursday. This center is located next to Rzeszow airport, some 80 km from the border with Ukraine.
Patients, civilians or soldiers, will be able to receive care, get vaccinated, benefit from disease screening and also psychological support. Two weekly flights will be provided by Norway to evacuate them to hospitals in other European countries.
Ukrainians Forcibly Transferred to Russia, Human Rights Watch Says
Russian forces have forcibly transferred Ukrainian civilians, including those fleeing hostilities, to areas under their control since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Thursday. Forced transfers “constitute a serious violation of the laws of war amounting to a war crime and a potential crime against humanity”HRW said.
The organization interviewed 54 people who had been to Russia or knew people who had. Many forcibly transferred people were fleeing the city of Mariupol. Others came from the Kharkiv region.