The IAEA team present at Ukraine’s Zaporizhya nuclear plant reported in late January that blasts had been heard near the facility almost daily for weeks. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi once again underlined the importance of agreeing and implementing as soon as possible a Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone around the site, which would help shield the facility.

On 2 February, the Russian president declared that to defeat the “ideology of Nazism” in Ukraine, Russia would use its full arsenal, which includes nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, the US State Department has voiced concerns that Russia is violating a major nuclear arms agreement with the USA by refusing to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities.

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