The International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday said its team heard shelling close to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.

The IAEA team based at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) reported hearing shelling close to the site today and saw black smoke rising from three locations nearby, in the latest incident highlighting continuous nuclear safety risks during the military conflict, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

The team was informed by the ZNPP that multiple artillery shells had struck an area outside the ZNPP site parameter around 400 metres from the plant’s off-site diesel fuel storage facility, also known as the diesel fuel farm. This incident is believed to have sparked fires in the affected vegetation, which are under control.

IAEA said the information was in line with the team’s own observations of sporadic shelling being heard for about two hours from 1:26pm local time, including three rounds close to the site at around 2:30pm.

"Gunfire was also heard. Smoke from locations outside the site was later observed by the team from the ZNPP’s main administrative building," the statement said.

The team was not yet able to visit the area of the reported shelling but will request it tomorrow morning provided the security situation allows it.

"While there were no reports of casualties or equipment damage, the incident once again underlined the constant dangers to nuclear safety and security," Director General Grossi said.

“As I told the IAEA’s General Conference yesterday, military action still endangers the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. What was once virtually unimaginable – shelling or other military activity taking place close to major nuclear facilities – has become a regular occurrence during this horrific war. I’ve repeatedly called for maximum military restraint near nuclear power plants and I do so again today. This must stop before it is too late,” Director General Grossi said.

The Ukrainian conflict has recorded the highest confirmed death and injury toll from cluster munitions for the third year running, UN-backed researchers said on Monday.

According to the latest Cluster Munitions Monitor, more than 1,200 people are known to have been killed or maimed in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The true figure is likely much higher, but it could be years before an accurate number is known, said Loren Persi, team lead for the Cluster Munition Monitor report.

Citing conflict in Syria and Yemen where it was clear that there were high numbers of casualties, “this only came out [years] later”, he told journalists in Geneva.