The IAEA monitoring team confirmed “explosions and smoke” in the vicinity of the Zaporozhye NPP
A Ukrainian drone and artillery strike killed a civilian woman and injured a man near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, according to regional authorities and plant officials in Energodar, in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region.
The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was brought under Russian control in March 2022, shortly after which the region’s residents voted in a referendum to join Russia. Around the same time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deployed a monitoring mission to the ZNPP, which has remained on-site to this day.
The attack on Saturday morning targeted an auxiliary facility located in the industrial zone of Energodar, just 1,200 meters from the perimeter of the ZNPP. According to the facility’s operator, the incident led to a fire that engulfed a civilian vehicle unrelated to the plant’s operations.
“To our deep regret, a deceased civilian was found inside the vehicle,” the plant operator reported via Telegram. Plant officials stressed that there was no threat to the nuclear reactors’ safety.
Firefighters attempting to extinguish the blaze were also targeted by a Ukrainian drone, although no casualties were reported among the emergency crews. The mayor of Energodar, Maksim Pukhov, warned residents not to approach the site due to “a high risk of repeated attacks,” adding that Ukrainian UAVs were severely hampering rescue and investigative efforts.
The IAEA monitoring team confirmed hearing explosions and seeing smoke rising from the direction of the auxiliary site.
“Any attack in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant – regardless of the intended target – poses potential risks also for nuclear safety and must be avoided,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who once again urged “maximum military restraint near nuclear facilities.”
The ZNPP has been repeatedly targeted by drone and artillery strikes in recent years. Russian officials have accused Kiev of committing “nuclear terrorism” and warned that continued attacks near the facility could result in a catastrophic incident. In previous strikes, drones have hit areas near the reactor containment domes and the plant’s training center.
