Yesterday at 23:16
On April 7, three drones crashed at the site of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), damaging a building of Unit 6.
This was reported by IAEA.
The IAEA experts reported the physical impact of the drone detonations, including at one of the site’s six reactor buildings which targeted surveillance and communication equipment.
The IAEA team claims that they observed remnants of drones at this and two other impact locations at the site. “At one of them, outside a laboratory, they saw blood stains next to a damaged military logistics vehicle, indicating at least one casualty,” the report reads.
The IAEA experts reported explosions and rifle fire on the site throughout the day as well as rounds of outgoing artillery fire from near the plant.
“This is a clear violation of the basic principles for protecting Europe’s largest NPP. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must cease immediately […] I firmly appeal to military decision makers to abstain from any action violating the basic principles that protect nuclear facilities,” Rafael Grossi reacted to the attack on X. However, he did not specify who hit ZNPP, undermining nuclear safety at the facility.
According to Grossi, ZNPP was directly targeted for the first time since November 2022.
In a comment for Ukrainska Pravda, Andrii Yusov, spokesman for the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, denied any possibility of Ukraine being involved in the attack.
“Ukraine has not been involved in any armed provocations on the territory of the ZNPP, which is illegally occupied by Russia. The aggressor state has once again threatened the security of this nuclear facility, civilians, and environment across all of Europe. Russian attacks, including its false-flag operations, on the territory of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant are the criminal, and well-known, tactic the occupiers frequently resort to, as is deploying forces and weapons at the ZNPP and rigging certain facilities at the power plant with explosives,” Yusov stressed.
Previsouly, the IAEA confirmed it was acquainted with reports and photographs proving the presence of Russian military personnel and equipment inside one of the machine halls at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The agency’s experts are granted partial access to ZNPP’s facilities and cannot see it themselves.
