Russia: Ukrainian drones hit two facilities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant; a driver was killed

Ukrainian drones struck two facilities of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant overnight, the head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced on Monday, saying there is no threat to nuclear safety, as Reuters reports.

Alexei Likhachev, Rosatom’s director general, said a laboratory and a radioactive waste processing facility were the targets of the attack; a driver who was bringing food for the plant’s employees was killed in the strike. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.

On Saturday, the plant’s management said Ukrainian shelling in recent weeks had damaged the external power supply equipment — power is now being provided by emergency diesel generators.

The plant does not produce electricity, but it needs an external supply from two connections to keep the nuclear fuel cool. Russia seized the plant, the largest in Europe with six reactors, in the first weeks of the February 2022 invasion.

Moscow and Kyiv have regularly accused each other of military actions that endanger nuclear safety. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has repeatedly tried to secure a ceasefire around the plant to repair the main grid lines; UN monitors are stationed at the Zaporizhzhia plant and at three other operating plants in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of enabling the Ukrainian attacks by not publicly condemning them.