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A Ukrainian drone struck a passage connecting six reactor units at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant overnight, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said Saturday.
Alexey Likhachev said the drone hit a gallery used by personnel to move between the plant’s six power units, according to a statement published by Rosatom on Telegram.
“Fortunately, there was no explosion. The strike occurred just a few meters from the reactor compartment of Unit 3,” Likhachev said.
The facility is located in Russian-controlled southeastern Ukraine.
Likhachev also said Ukrainian forces attempted to strike the plant’s dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility last week.
Likhachev said the nuclear plant is receiving electricity through a single 330-kilovolt transmission line.
A second line, which he said Russian crews repaired in June, has not been reconnected.
He said Enerhodar, the nearby city where most of the plant’s employees live, has faced repeated drone and artillery attacks in recent days.
The attacks have disrupted electricity and water supplies in the city, he said.
According to Likhachev, a woman was killed Friday when a drone struck a residential building.
He said 15 Enerhodar residents have been killed and 51 injured since late April.
Likhachev criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for what he called insufficient efforts to ensure the plant’s safety.
He said consultations had included the possibility of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visiting Enerhodar and the nuclear facility.
Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has been under Russian control since March 2022, less than a month after the current conflict began.
The facility has repeatedly faced shelling and drone attacks during the war, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of endangering the plant.
The IAEA has repeatedly warned that military activity around the facility presents a serious nuclear safety risk and has maintained a monitoring mission at the site since 2022.
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