Judy: Today the united nations'
atomic energy agency called for
a demilitarized zone around
Europe's largest nuclear plant.
Russia has controlled the
zaporizhzhia plant in southeast
Ukraine for 6 months.
And a new iaea report today
arrives amid increasing concerns
about the plant's safety and
security.
Nick schifrin is in Ukraine
tonight.
Nick: Ukraine's president calls
it a nuclear weapon -- an
nuclear power plant occupied by
an invading army.
With Russian military vehicles
parked inside, and outside,
remnants of shelling that U.S.
Officials blame on Russia.
Today iaea director general
Rafael Grossi told the security
council the violence needs to
end.
Dir. Grossi: The physical attack
wittingly or unwittingly, the
hits that this facility has
received and that I could
personally see, assess together
with my experts is simply
unacceptable.
We are playing with fire and
something very catastrophic
could take place.
Nick: Grossi and his team
visited the plant last week,
escorted by a Russian nuclear
official.
Today's iaea report called the
situation unsustainable and
warned of damage to a building
that houses fresh nuclear fuel
and a radioactive waste storage
facility.
And the report calls for a
protection zone around the
plant, an improvement of staff
conditions, and the end of
military activities that have
damaged the plant's source of
electricity.
Ukrainian and U.S. Officials
accuse Russia of targeting the
plant's incoming sources of
power, as part of a plan to
reroute the plant's output away
from Ukraine, and into Russian
controlled territory.
But those incoming sources of
power prevent what Ukrainian
president volodymyr zelenskyy
called a radiation catastrophe.
Pres. Zelenskyy: Russia is only
interested in keeping the
situation at its worst for as
long as possible.
Nick: Meanwhile in the southern
district of kherson, Kyiv
continues a major
counter-offensive, and says it
is recapturing towns previously
occupied by Russia.
Pres. Zelenskyy: We are
liberating Ukrainian territory
from the Russian army.
We have already started or
invaded everything that was
destroyed by the Russian terror.
Judy: And Nick joins me now from
Ukraine.
Hello.
Tell us, what are Ukrainian and
American officials telling you
right now about the zaporizhzhia
plant?
Nick: The American officials we
spoke to are worried about three
principal things, the first is
the staff.
Some were executed, some were
tortured right after Russia took
over the plant.
The worry is that a staff error
could create a nuclear incident.
I spent today talking with a
staff member from the plant and
he downplays the risk a little
bit.
He says there are about 4000
5000 staff still working at the
plant, down from 11,000.
He said Russian soldiers don't
interrupt their work and would
not feel the presence of Russian
soldiers if not for the
shelling, which brings us to
point number two, people worried
about the physical safety of the
plant.
You heard Grossi identify damage
to a building that houses fresh
nuclear fuel, and U.S. Officials
tell me that Russia fired a
rocket that created a fire at
coal ash in the plant.
Overall, the U.S. Is intact and
-- -- and they are not concerned
about radiation.
However, the electricity running
into the plant could be cut.
The plant needs the electricity
to cool the reactors and prevent
any kind of meltdown.
Officials we are talking to say,
and in addition the plant worker
I spoke to said this as well,
the Russians are aiming their
weapons at the sources of
electricity, the lines of
electricity coming into the
separation plant as well as --
the zaporizhzhia plant as well
as other sources of power.
Ukrainian soldiers have lunch
and if it -- launched an
offensive to protect those
sources of power, but the power
being taken away is dangerous.
That's what happened in
Fukushima.
Judy: Is it understood why the
Russians are targeting the
electrical sources?
Nick: Ukrainian and U.S.
Officials believe Russia is
trying to redirect the output of
the zaporizhzhia power plant
away from Ukraine and into
Russian held territory.
To do that they are trying to
physically destroy the
electricity lines that go from
the plant into Ukraine.
But they are taking the
incredibly dangerous step of
targeting the incoming
electricity as well.
That would require pressure
rather than Ukraine to supply
electricity -- pressure rather
than Ukraine to supply
electricity to the plant, which
we are told would be difficult.
That's why control to the south
is so difficult.
South of zaporizhzhia, the
output of the power plant, to
Russian controlled crimea goes
through there.
The Russians are trying to fix
the electricity lines so the
output can go down to crimea.
That is one of the key targets
in the counteroffensive Ukraine
is waging.
Judy: Speaking of the southern
part of Ukraine, is there an
understanding of how the
Ukrainian counteroffensive is
going?
Nick: Ukrainian officials do say
they are making progress.
They seized at least two towns
from Russian control, and the
goal they say is to retake
momentum and stabilize the front
before it simply gets too cold
and a couple of months and I
can't make any progress in the
south.
Let's go back to that map.
The goals of the
counteroffensive are to seize
the area around curse on -- K
Herson city, without going into
the city, which would be a
bloody fight.
We mentioned the second goal, to
make sure Russia cannot export
the power down to crimea.
Those goals are more narrow than
some of the options Ukraine had
before the war.
The U.S. And Ukraine worked
together including using
wargames to narrow those goals
to the point where U.S.
Officials are mostly positive
that Ukraine can achieve those
goals in the coming weeks and
months.
Judy: All right, Nick schifrin
reporting for us from Ukraine.
Thank you Nick.
Nick: Thanks.