Russia: Too dangerous for IAEA to go through Kyiv to visit Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises over Kyiv after Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital's outskirts, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Vladyslav Sodel

(Reuters) - Any mission undertaken by the U.N.'s nuclear agency to inspect Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant cannot pass through the capital Kyiv as it is too dangerous, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Tuesday.

"Imagine what it means to pass through Kyiv -- it means they get to the nuclear plant through the front line," RIA news agency quoted Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy head of the foreign ministry's nuclear proliferation and arms control department as telling journalists.