India, Sept. 17 -- 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 incide...