UN demands end to military activity at Ukraine nuclear plant

The United Nations nuclear head has called for an end to attacks at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine.

Rafael Grossi warned "very alarming" military activity at Europe's largest nuclear plant could have dangerous consequences for the region.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have been trading accusations about who is responsible for dangerous shelling at the facility.

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The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has not been able to independently verify which party is behind it.

Mr Grossi said nuclear experts must be allowed to go in and investigate damage and evaluate safety at the complex where the situation "has been deteriorating very rapidly".

He pointed to shelling and several explosions at Zaporizhzhia last Friday that forced the shutdown of the electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, forcing the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.

Last week, the UN nuclear chief described the situation as "completely out of control" in an interview with Associated Press.

On Thursday, he demanded an end to military actions "that have even the smallest potential to jeopardise nuclear safety" at such a significant installation.

While an initial assessment by experts found "no immediate threat to nuclear safety" at the plant from the shelling and military actions, he warned "this could change at any moment".

While the plant is controlled by Russia, its Ukrainian staff continues to run the nuclear operations. It is in Enerhodar, a city seized by Russian troops in early March soon after they invaded Ukraine.

Mr Grossi said statements received from Russia and Ukraine "are frequently contradicted".

Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia said "Kyiv's criminal attacks on nuclear infrastructure are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe".

He accused Ukrainian armed forces in recent days of repeatedly using heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems to shell the Zaporizhzhia plant.