KYIV, Ukraine >> The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog expressed growing anxiety about the safety of a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant near the front lines of fighting in Ukraine after the Moscow-installed governor of the area ordered the evacuation of the city where most plant staff live.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi spent months unsuccessfully trying to persuade Russian and Ukrainian officials to establish a security zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to prevent the war from causing a radiation leak.

Ukrainian authorities on Sunday said that a woman was killed when Russian forces fired more than 30 shells at the city of Nikopol, about 6 miles away from the plant.

“The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous,” Grossi warned Saturday.

— The Associated Press