Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant three times on Sunday, the 7th of April, a claim denied by Kyiv. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has experts on site, confirmed the attack and raised concerns about the impact on nuclear safety, noting that it was the first direct attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant since November 2022, reports Reuters.
Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said Ukraine attacked the plant three times with drones on Sunday,
first injuring three people near the canteen, then attacking the cargo area and then Reactor 6.
Rosatom described the attacks as unprecedented and a direct threat to the safety of the plant. Despite the incidents, radiation levels in and around the plant are said to have remained unchanged.
Ukrainian intelligence official Andriy Usov, spokesman for the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate HUR, denied that Kyiv was involved in the Zaporizhzhya attacks and suggested that they were carried out by the Russians.
Referring to the Russian forces, he described such strikes as a known criminal practice of the invaders.
The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine contains six Soviet-era VVER-1000 V-320 reactors containing Uranium-235 as well as used nuclear fuel. Reactors 1, 2, 5 and 6 have been stopped in cold shutdown, Reactor 3 has been stopped for repairs and Reactor 4 has been stopped in hot shutdown, the plant status report said.
The IAEA said its experts had confirmed three drone attacks
and that Russian troops appeared to have stopped a drone approaching Reactor 6.
“This is a significant escalation of nuclear safety and security risks at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must be stopped immediately,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi was quoted as saying in a statement.
“An attack on a nuclear power plant is absolutely a no go,”
Grossi has said. He stressed that although the damage to Unit 6 did not endanger nuclear safety, the incident was severe and could have compromised the integrity of the reactor’s protective system.
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