International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has expressed serious concern following a drone strike on a turbine building at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Grossi warned that attacks on nuclear facilities are highly risky and akin to playing with fire. The IAEA was informed by the ZNPP that a drone had struck a turbine building, causing a hole in one of the walls.
Grossi emphasized the importance of avoiding any form of attacks on or from nuclear facilities to maintain nuclear safety and security. The IAEA team at the plant has requested access to the affected turbine building to assess the reported damage firsthand. This incident marks the first drone attack within the ZNPP perimeter since April 2024, according to the IAEA.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, a major nuclear power facility in Europe, has been under Russian control since March 2022. Amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the IAEA has repeatedly highlighted the risks associated with military activities near the site and has called for the safeguarding of nuclear infrastructure. Russia’s Rosatom reported that a Ukrainian drone struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, but no significant damage to crucial equipment was reported.
The Ukrainian drone targeted the turbine island of Unit 6 at the power plant and detonated on Saturday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been informed of the attack. The Zaporizhzhia plant denounced such strikes on nuclear facilities as extremely irresponsible, emphasizing the severe threats they pose to nuclear security. The plant assured that there were no casualties or major damages resulting from the attack.
Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev highlighted that this was the first deliberate strike on a nuclear plant’s key equipment causing an explosion and damaging the turbine island structure.
