NEW DELHI: Officials at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, under Russian control, reported an attack on Sunday by Ukrainian military drones, including a strike on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit.
According to plant authorities, there were no critical damages or casualties, and radiation levels remained normal following the strikes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed being informed of the drone strike and stated that “such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations.”
Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN’s atomic watchdog agency, without assigning blame, cautioned against the safety hazards posed by such attacks.He urged refraining from actions that contradict the IAEA’s principles and endanger nuclear safety.
The power plant has been entangled in the conflict since Russian troops entered Ukraine in 2022 and seized control of the facility shortly thereafter. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concerns about the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, amid apprehensions of a potential nuclear disaster. Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of attacking the plant, which remains close to the front lines.
Although the plant’s six reactors have been offline for months, it still requires power and qualified personnel to operate critical cooling systems and other safety mechanisms.
Additionally, on Sunday, three individuals lost their lives when their residence was struck by a Russian projectile in the frontline town of Huliaipole in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, as confirmed by regional Governor Ivan Fedorov. Later that day, two individuals were wounded in another shelling incident in Huliaipole.
In a separate incident, three people sustained injuries in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, according to regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
In Russia, a girl died, and four others were wounded when debris from a downed Ukrainian drone fell on a car carrying a family of six individuals in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.
According to plant authorities, there were no critical damages or casualties, and radiation levels remained normal following the strikes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed being informed of the drone strike and stated that “such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations.”
Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN’s atomic watchdog agency, without assigning blame, cautioned against the safety hazards posed by such attacks.He urged refraining from actions that contradict the IAEA’s principles and endanger nuclear safety.
The power plant has been entangled in the conflict since Russian troops entered Ukraine in 2022 and seized control of the facility shortly thereafter. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concerns about the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, amid apprehensions of a potential nuclear disaster. Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of attacking the plant, which remains close to the front lines.
Although the plant’s six reactors have been offline for months, it still requires power and qualified personnel to operate critical cooling systems and other safety mechanisms.
Additionally, on Sunday, three individuals lost their lives when their residence was struck by a Russian projectile in the frontline town of Huliaipole in Ukraine’s partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, as confirmed by regional Governor Ivan Fedorov. Later that day, two individuals were wounded in another shelling incident in Huliaipole.
In a separate incident, three people sustained injuries in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, according to regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
In Russia, a girl died, and four others were wounded when debris from a downed Ukrainian drone fell on a car carrying a family of six individuals in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.
