Oleksandr Shulga stands in front of his destroyed house following a missile strike in Mykolaiv on 29 August, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday he was en route to inspect Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, as Kyiv's forces launched a counter-offensive to retake the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson.
Russia's defence ministry said it had repulsed attacks in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions and inflicted "heavy losses" on Ukrainian forces. Russia's defence ministry accused Ukrainian troops of shelling near the plant on Sunday, claiming it had shot down a "Ukrainian strike drone" approaching a nuclear fuel and radioactive waste storage area.
"The Russians are the only terrorists in the world that have managed to turn a nuclear plant into a battlefield." In its Monday update, Energoatom said the Russians had "increased pressure on the personnel of the plant to prevent them from disclosing evidence of the occupiers' crimes at the plant and its use as a military base".