The head of Ukraine’s state nuclear operating company Energoatom has called for the presence of United Nations peacekeeping forces at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and said he would also like to see independent missions from Europe and other countries.

Petro Kotin said the presence of such forces and missions would be an additional way of reviewing and monitoring what was going on there. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which began a mission to the facility earlier this month, already has two inspectors at the station.

Kotin said in an interview with Reuters it was vital that the mission by IAEA inspectors led to the end of Russia's occupation of the facility.

The establishment of a permanent mission was a good step but  the root of the problem remained as Russian troops controlled the site, Kotin said.