A drone strike that hit Russia’s Zaporizhizhia power plant in Ukraine three times on Sunday could lead to a “major” radiation incident, the UN atomic watchdog said.
During the attack, one of the facility’s six reactors was hit and three people were injured.
Spokesman for Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate Andriy Yusov accused Russia of endangering not only the plant, but also civilians and the environment by carrying out attacks on a nuclear facility.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has previously urged both Moscow and kyiv to refrain from attacking the Zaporizhizhia plant.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called the attacks “reckless” and “a significant escalation of the nuclear security dangers” facing the plant.
A drone attack that hit Ukraine’s Zaporizhizhia power plant three times on Sunday could lead to a “major” radiation incident, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said.
Russian forces took control of the plant in 2022, shortly after their large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Attacking a nuclear power plant is absolutely impossible,” Grossi said.
‘Although the damage to unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, this was a serious incident that had the potential to undermine the integrity of the reactor containment system.
“These reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must stop immediately,” he added.
Following the triple attack, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova urged world leaders to condemn the act of “nuclear terrorism.”
Zakharova asked how many more times Ukraine would jeopardize the plant’s nuclear safety before Western leaders would take action.
The IAEA said its experts had confirmed three drone attacks and that Russian troops attacked what appeared to be a drone approaching the No. 6 reactor.
The nuclear plant has six Soviet-designed, water-cooled and moderated VVER-1000 V-320 reactors containing uranium-235 and also has spent nuclear fuel at the facility.
Reactors number 1, 2, 5 and 6 are currently on cold shutdown, while reactor number 3 is shut down for repair and reactor number 4 is on so-called “hot shutdown,” according to the plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has experts on site, said it was the first time the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, had been directly attacked since November 2022.
Russian forces took control of the plant in 2022, shortly after their large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The plant remains close to the front line, and both Moscow and kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear accident by attacking the plant.
Russia accused Ukraine regarding Sunday’s attacks.
Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said Ukraine attacked the plant three times on Sunday with drones, first wounding three near a canteen, then attacking a loading area and then the dome over the No. 6 reactor.
“The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been subject to an unprecedented series of drone attacks, a direct threat to the security of the plant,” Rosatom said.
“Radiation levels in and around the plant have not changed,” he said.
A Ukrainian intelligence official said kyiv had nothing to do with the attacks on the station and suggested they were the work of the Russians themselves.
“Ukraine was not involved in any armed provocation there,” Yusov told the Ukrainska Pravda news website.
He added that Russia is “illegally” occupying the plant.
Zaporizhzhia NPP from the shore of the Kakhovka reservoir in Nikopol
Sunday’s drone strikes come after Russia fired five missiles at Zaporizhzhia on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others.
“Russian attacks, including imitation ones, on the territory of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant… have long been a well-known criminal practice of the invaders,” added a spokesman for Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate HUR, Andriy Usov.
In February, the IAEA said its team of experts at the plant had heard explosions every day for a week.
At the time, Mr Grossi said: “For more than two years, nuclear security in Ukraine has been in constant danger.
“We remain determined to do everything possible to help minimize the risk of a nuclear accident that could harm people and the environment, not only in Ukraine.”
The drone strikes come after Russia fired five missiles at Zaporizhzhia on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others.
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian airstrike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Sunday.
Firefighters extinguish fire at missile attack site
Residential buildings and industrial facilities were damaged, the regional governor said.
The Zaporizhzhia Power Station is located about 80 miles upstream of the Dnieper from the Kakhovka Dam, which was severely damaged by the June 6, 2023 explosions.
Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, fears of a nuclear disaster have been sparked on several occasions when the plant was bombed and temporarily disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid.
The city of Zaporizhzhia itself is less than 35 miles away and was home to 750,000 people before the war.
Three civilians were also killed in a Russian attack on the village of Guliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region on Sunday morning, the local governor said.
“Two men and a woman died under the rubble of their own house, which was hit by a Russian projectile,” Ivan Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian forces destroyed all 17 attack drones launched by Russia, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday.
‘At night, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukraine once again, using 17 attack drones. “The Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed them all,” the Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook.