Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: IAEA mission on way to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi tweeted Monday that the agency's expert mission is on its way to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) in southern Ukraine, which has recently suffered strikes.

The IAEA later tweeted that the mission will assess the plant's physical damage, determine its safety and security systems' functionality, evaluate staff conditions and perform urgent safeguarding activities.

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Russia welcomes the upcoming visit of an IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia NPP, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"Russia is interested in this visit of the IAEA delegation, took part in its preparation, and is open to cooperation and interaction," Peskov told a daily briefing.

The IAEA inspectors will arrive at the Zaporizhzhia NPP from the zone controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces. Peskov said Kiev will be responsible for the inspectors' safety, adding Russia will ensure their safety in Moscow-controlled areas.

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Ukraine expects the IAEA mission to document the violations of nuclear safety protocols by Russia at the Zaporizhzhia NPP in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday.

"We expect from the mission a clear statement on the facts of violation of nuclear safety protocols. We know that Russia is putting not only Ukraine but also the entire world at risk of a nuclear incident," Kuleba was quoted by the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency as saying.

Kuleba said he coordinated the details of the mission to the plant with IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi.

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"The roof of the special building No. 1 of the Zaporizhzhia NPP was pierced as a result of a strike by Zelensky's militants. Fresh fuel for NPP reactors is stored in this building," Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the Zaporizhzhia region military-civil administration, wrote on Monday on Telegram.

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Russia used ground-based high-precision weapons to hit a temporary deployment point and ammunition depot of Ukraine's 108th territorial defense brigade in the Dnepropetrovsk region, killing more than 100 Ukrainian troops and destroying over 3,000 shells for multiple rocket launchers, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily report on Monday.

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Two artillery attacks from the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Zaporizhzhia NPP's territory have been recorded in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily report on Sunday.

A total of nine shells have been fired, three of which landed near Special Building No. 2, where Russian nuclear fuel cycle company TVEL's fresh nuclear fuel and solid radioactive waste are stored.

The ministry said the shelling was carried out from the Marganets area in the Dnepropetrovsk region, adding that during the counter-battery struggle, the units of the Ukrainian armed forces that fired at the plant were suppressed by retaliatory fire.

The radiation situation in the plant area remains normal, the ministry said.