Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant with drones, injuring several employees. The Ukrainian reactor is under Russian control.
According to Russian information, three employees were injured in the shelling of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine. The Russian nuclear company Rosatom said there was a Ukrainian attack near the power plant’s canteen as well as on a loading zone and the dome of the nuclear power plant’s sixth reactor.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its experts had been informed of the drone attack. The reported detonation corresponds to the observations of IAEA staff. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi again warned of the risks of such attacks and called for any actions that could endanger nuclear security to be avoided.
Nuclear power plant under Russian control
Russia’s attack troops occupied Europe’s largest nuclear power plant soon after beginning their invasion of Ukraine. The governments in Kiev and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of attacks on the facility. In this context, the IAEA had warned several times of a potential nuclear catastrophe. The six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have been shut down for months, but electricity and skilled personnel are needed to operate the cooling systems.
Ukraine reports deaths from shelling
According to Ukrainian reports, three people were killed by Russian shelling in the Zaporizhzhia region. A house in the front-line town of Hulyaypole, where the victims were staying, was hit by a bullet, said regional governor Ivan Fedorov. Accordingly, two people were later injured by further bombings in Hulyaypole.
In the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, Governor Oleh Synyehubow reported three people injured in a Russian attack. In the Russian border region of Belgorod, a girl also died when debris from a downed Ukrainian drone fell on a car in which she was sitting with her family, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said via Telegram. Four other people were injured.