Kremlin says Putin will meet IAEA head

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi in St Petersburg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says, amid fears over safety at the site.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, Peskov told reporters.

Grossi said he was negotiating with Ukraine and Russia about establishing a protective zone around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya, the largest in Europe, amid ongoing attacks.

He hopes a protective zone would reduce the danger of an accident at the embattled plant after repeated power outages due to shelling.

Russia has effectively controlled the nuclear power plant since the beginning of March, when its troops occupied large parts of southern Ukraine.

The plant is staffed by Ukrainians, however.

The external power supply was restored to the plant on Sunday evening after the latest outage due to shelling damage, renewing fears of a deadly accident.

If the external power supply is interrupted, diesel generators automatically kick in.

However, according to the Ukrainian power plant operator, the diesel supplies can only enable 10 days of emergency operation.

The nuclear power plant was shut down weeks ago.

However, the nuclear material must continue to be cooled even when it is shut down.

Shelling continues almost daily at the site, and Grossi recently called for this to be halted immediately as the attacks increase the danger of a catastrophic nuclear accident.