VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A top Russian diplomat said on Monday that Moscow hoped that a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine would dispel misconceptions about its allegedly poor state.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said earlier on Monday that it would inspect the plant this week and that an IAEA team was en route to the facility which has become the focus of international concern with both Ukraine and Russia accusing each other of imperilling its safety.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to the international organisations in Vienna, was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying that Russia had worked hard to help make the visit possible and understood that the IAEA wanted to leave some of its staff at the plant on a permanent basis.

"We hope that the visit of the IAEA mission to the station will dispel numerous speculation about the (allegedly) unfavourable state of affairs at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," Ulyanov was cited as saying.

Russia seized the plant, Europe's biggest, in early March as part of what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainian staff continue to work there to keep things going.

Russia and Ukraine have for weeks traded accusations of shelling in the plant's vicinity, fuelling fears of a radiation disaster.

Kyiv, which says it is defending itself from an imperial-style war of aggression, has accused Russian forces of using it as a military base and as a location from which to strike Ukrainian towns with artillery, knowing it will be hard for Kyiv to return fire.

Russia has rejected those allegations, while confirming it does have a military presence at the power plant which it says is to safeguard its security.

Russia has in turn accused Ukraine of intensifying shelling near the facility in recent days, something Kyiv denies.

A Russian-installed official in the Zaporizhzhia region said earlier on Monday that Moscow would ensure the safety of the IAEA inspectors, who are expected to arrive later this week. (Reuters)