FOG BLOG UKRAINE LOG: U.N. WARNS OF DISASTER AT ZAPROIZHZHIA NUCLEAR PLANT 'CLOSE CALL' TODAY!

'Close call' in shelling near nuclear reactor on Ukraine's frontline

• IAEA chief warns of huge risks from fighting at plant

• Russia, Ukraine trade blame for shelling

• President Zelenskiy says eastern region hit by heavy artillery

• 'Fiercest battles' in Donetsk region, Zelenskiy says

KYIV, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine narrowly escaped disaster during fighting at the weekend that rocked Europe's largest atomic power plant with a barrage of shells, some falling near reactors and damaging a radioactive waste storage building, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.

Russia and Ukraine on Monday traded blame for at least a dozen explosions at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been under Russian control since soon after it invaded the country on Feb. 24 but is across the Dnipro river from areas controlled by Kyiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged NATO members to guarantee protection from "Russian sabotage" at nuclear facilities. The head of Russia's state-run nuclear energy agency, Rosatom, said it had discussed Sunday's shelling with the IAEA, and said there was a risk of a nuclear accident. he assault came as battles raged further east following Russian troop movements into the industrial Donbas region from around Ukraine's recently recaptured Kherson in the south.

Whoever fired on the plant was taking "huge risks and gambling with many people's lives", said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). IAEA experts toured the site on Monday, and the agency said they found widespread damage but nothing that compromised the plant's essential systems.

"They were able to confirm that – despite the severity of the shelling – key equipment remained intact and there were no immediate nuclear safety or security concerns," it said in a statement issued on Monday evening.