Russia Accuses Ukraine of Drone Attack Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

Dragon Media Newsroom

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused Ukrainian forces of launching a drone attack on Laboratory and Administrative Building No. 2 near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). She said the building is about 200 metres from the plant’s power units.

In a statement issued on Monday, Zakharova said the alleged attack on October 4 increased the risk of a serious nuclear accident. She claimed that attacks on the plant and its infrastructure could disrupt operations and threaten nuclear safety.

Alexey Likhachev, head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said on Monday that two facilities—a laboratory building and a radioactive waste processing facility—had been damaged. He said the roofs of both buildings were damaged but that there was no immediate threat to nuclear safety.

In an October 3 update, the International Atomic Energy Agency said drone attacks on the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant on September 19, 20 and 27 had damaged transformers that supply off-site electricity to the nuclear plant. The agency did not identify who carried out those attacks.