FILE PHOTO: A view shows Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Sunday it condemned a "breach of territorial sovereignty" by employees of the U.N. nuclear watchdog who visited the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine via Russian-occupied territory.
In an emailed statement, Ukraine's foreign ministry blamed "Russian blackmail and systematic attempts to impose upon international organisations illegal and contradictory mechanisms of operating on the temporarily occupied territories."
A new monitoring mission from the IAEA arrived on Saturday at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which has been occupied by Russia since 2022, for the first time through Russian territory, the Russia-installed head of the plant said.
Previously, monitoring missions entered the Russian-occupied area from territory controlled by Kyiv. The IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
The IAEA rotation came after weeks of delay caused by military activity around the site with each side blaming the other for violating rules to ensure the team's safe passage to the plant.
(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Ros Russell)
