UN Atomic Watchdog Chief Pursues Ukraine Nuclear Plant Deal

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023. (AFP)
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023. (AFP)
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UN Atomic Watchdog Chief Pursues Ukraine Nuclear Plant Deal

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023. (AFP)
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023. (AFP)

The head of the UN’s atomic energy watchdog returned Wednesday to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, reportedly saying he is working on a plan to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power facility “more locally” amid the war in the surrounding area.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the war’s front lines for a second time to reach the plant, which is located in a partially Russia-occupied part of Ukraine where combat has intensified.

The IAEA, which is based in Vienna, Austria, has a rotating team permanently based at the plant. Grossi told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday he feels it is his duty to ramp up talks between Kyiv and Moscow aimed at safeguarding the facility and avoiding a a catastrophic accident. He said a deal was “close.”

Grossi met Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he would “most probably” head to Moscow in the coming days.

However, Zelenskyy said in a separate interview with the AP that he was less optimistic a deal was near. “I don’t feel it today,” he said.

Grossi has long called for a protection zone around the plant but a deal has been elusive. Ukraine insists all Russian forces must leave the facility. Grossi said Wednesday he was working on “realistic measures” he believed would be acceptable to both sides, according to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.

“There have been and there are various ideas and concepts we’re working on,” Grossi said, according to RIA Novosti. “It’s a work in progress. We’re developing a concept to defend the plant more locally.”

The Kremlin’s forces took over the six-reactor plant after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and Zelenskyy opposes any proposal that would legitimize Russia’s control over the facility.

Grossi repeatedly has urged Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow a protection zone around the plant, which is very near the front line of the war.

The negotiations are specific to preventing a nuclear disaster at the plant and not aimed at securing a broader ceasefire, Grossi told the AP.

The power station’s reactors are shut down and the plant has received the electricity it needs to run the cooling systems needed to prevent a reactor meltdown through one remaining functioning power line.

Interruptions to the outside electricity supply due to the fighting required plant personnel to switch to emergency diesel generators six times during the 13-month war. When backup power supplies might be needed again is unpredictable, according to Grossi.



Arrests Made in Türkiye over Calls for Shopping Boycott to Support Istanbul's Imprisoned Mayor

Fine art university students shout slogans as they march past an Expresso Lab coffee bar during a peaceful protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Fine art university students shout slogans as they march past an Expresso Lab coffee bar during a peaceful protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Arrests Made in Türkiye over Calls for Shopping Boycott to Support Istanbul's Imprisoned Mayor

Fine art university students shout slogans as they march past an Expresso Lab coffee bar during a peaceful protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Fine art university students shout slogans as they march past an Expresso Lab coffee bar during a peaceful protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Turkish police detained 11 people Thursday for supporting a shopping boycott as part of protests against the imprisonment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, state-run media reported.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 16 suspects in an investigation into “hatred and discrimination” and “inciting hatred and hostility” among the public, the Anadolu news agency said.

Among the detained was actor Cem Yigit Uzumoglu, who played Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in the Netflix docuseries “Rise of Empires: Ottoman,” the Actors’ Union said.

The suspects were held over social media posts calling on people to not to spend money on Wednesday and for businesses to shut their doors in solidarity during the daylong boycott, The AP news reported.

Large-scale anti-government protests began last month after the arrest of Istanbul's opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption charges that critics say are politically motivated. The government insists the judiciary is independent and free of political interference.

Istanbul prosecutors on Tuesday launched a criminal investigation into earlier boycott calls by Imamoglu’s party targeting companies it alleges support the government. In particular, the opposition identified media firms that did not air images of protests in which hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to call for Imamoglu’s release and an end to democratic backsliding.

The leader of Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party, or CHP, issued a warning after authorities blocked social media accounts supporting Wednesday's boycott.

“We know that you have closed hundreds of pages to date,” Ozgur Ozel wrote on X. “If you become a tool for anti-democratic practices today, if you implement access ban demands, think carefully about what this nation will do to you!”

While in prison, Imamoglu has been confirmed as the CHP's presidential candidate. The next election is currently scheduled for 2028 but is likely to take place earlier.

According to the independent ANKA News Agency, some 2,000 people have been detained since Imamoglu was arrested on March 19, with 316 jailed pending trial. Most face charges relating to participating in protests.

Lawyers for imprisoned protesters on Wednesday said many had suffered mistreatment. The government has not responded to the allegations but on Thursday the police issued a statement denying claims that women had been sexually assaulted in custody as “vile slanders.”